Last week Governor Cuomo surprised virtually no one by announcing at a gubernatorial debate that he will wait until at least the end of the year to make a decision on the fracking moratorium that has been in place in New York since 2008. Ostensibly, the governor is waiting until New York's Department of Health and Department of Environmental Conservation submit the report they started in September 2012.
Does anyone really believe that, after 6 years of a fracking moratorium, 2 years of state sponsored studies, and countless scientific studies and reports, Governor Cuomo is "undecided" on fracking? That he really can't make up his mind on whether the moratorium should be extended? Of course not.
As the NY Post reported, the governor's decision to not decide didn't make either side of the argument happy. At the same time, though, it didn't really anger anyone. And that is the point. Both sides of the debate are passionate. There will be political consequences from any decision, but far fewer consequences attendant to a non-decision.
The governor's schizophrenic reliance on science betrays him. At the debate, the governor is quoted as saying: "I'm not a scientist. Let the scientists decide. It's very complicated, it's very controversial, people have different opinions, academic studies come out all different ways." On the one hand, let the scientists decide. On the other hand, the scientists can't decide. A politician's perfect storm of uncertainty.
Governor Cuomo is right. He's not a scientist. He's a politician.
Originally published October 29, 2014
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