OPINION: Fracking equals climate change
On Sept. 21, thousands will converge on New York City for the People’s Climate March. The event coincides with an important United Nations climate change summit featuring leaders from across the world. Among those taking to the streets will be many New York State residents calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to be a leader on global warming by banning fracking.
Fracking is a dangerous method of extracting natural gas that threatens our water, health and environment. Fracking also spells disaster for our climate. That’s because the production, transportation and combustion of fracked gas releases and generates massive amounts of pollution that causes global warming.
Natural gas is primarily methane. Methane is an extraordinarily potent greenhouse gas, meaning it’s very efficient at trapping heat in our planet’s atmosphere, much more so than carbon dioxide. There is growing evidence that large quantities of methane leak from fracking operations. Burning natural gas also releases large amounts of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas. This is why Cornell University professor Anthony Ingraffea has referred to natural gas as a “gangplank to a warm future,” not the “bridge fuel” the industry portrays it as being.
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.