Speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C. Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio voiced his "firm" opposition to hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking, in New York state.
"I don’t see any place for fracking," de Blasio said following a speech at the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "The science simply isn’t reliable enough. The technology isn’t reliable enough. And, there’s too much danger to our water supply, to our environment in general."
The mayor's comments come during a statewide moratorium on the controversial practice placed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has delayed on making a decision to finalize new fracking regulations for the state.
De Blasio said Cuomo's ban should be upheld until "we can actually prove it’s safe and I don’t think that day is coming any time soon."
Opponents of fracking, which involves pumping chemicals into the earth in order to extract natural gas, say natural gas extraction has the potential to irreparably contaminate entire water supplies.
De Blasio's predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, strongly supported fracking methods. In a 2012 Washington Post op-ed, the former mayor hailed natural gas as the "most significant development in the U.S. energy sector in generations."
Related
Before You Go
