How can it be that the Independent Democratic Conference, four senators who have described themselves as champions of "common sense," have not yet added their names to legislation requiring a comprehensive health impact assessment before a decision is made on fracking?
Senate bill 4236A, which would enact a two-year moratorium while health effects are studied, has already passed the State Assembly.
If Sens. Jeff Klein, Diane Savino, David Valesky, and David Carlucci can overcome reticence and stand by their promise of avoiding gridlock, the bill might actually become law.
To their credit, all four senators have co-sponsored common-sense legislation that, if passed, would require fracking waste to be treated as hazardous, and three have even co-sponsored more stringent legislation banning fracking altogether. Sen. Carlucci has even floated his own version of a moratorium bill.
Those bills, however, are going nowhere this session. Assuming their concerns about fracking to be genuine, it makes no sense for IDC members to withhold support for the one piece of legislation that actually has a chance of passing.
With the governor's recent announcement that he plans to make a decision on fracking before the 2014 election, it is vital the Legislature take action to protect the people of New York.
The IDC, a group of independent-minded Democrats who have not been afraid of standing up to Gov. Cuomo before, holds the key to ensuring that common sense prevails by supporting Senate bill 4236A.
Keith Schue
Cherry Valley