Let's talk some common sense about hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

There are huge reserves of natural gas and oil trapped in shale strata from 4,000 to 10,000 feet under the earth's surface. In the past it was not viable to use because it could not be recovered in sufficient quantities. What made it viable is fracking.

Hydraulic fracturing is accomplished by injecting a mixture of hydrochloric acid into the gas and oil bearing strata at very high pressure. The extreme pressure opens fissures in the shale and then the hydrochloric acid dissolves the limestone in the shale, opening pathways for the oil and gas to flow to the collection pipes. The chemical reaction of the acid and limestone results in the neutralization of the acid and formation of calcium chloride and carbon dioxide. Real bad stuff according to the Progressive Socialists who oppose the use of carbon based fuels.

State Bans Fracking For Health Reasons Adds That It's Expecting A Wealth Of Lawsuits By Paul Smart ALBANY – New York State banned the natural gas retrieval procedure known as High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing during a televised cabinet meeting presided over by Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday. The decision cited a variety of concerns raised by the state Department of Health and the fact that "in New York State we're protective of our natural resources," as NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens put it. As the decision was still being discussed, New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox sent out a statement noting that "Andrew Cuomo has given into the radical environmental Luddites in his own party to leave New York as the only one of the 35 states with extractable natural gas to be missing out on the hydro-fracking boom." He and others posting comments on the governor's website, where the cabinet meeting was livestreamed from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., complained that the new ban ignored economically-challenged communities in the state's Southern Tier and would lead to "wealth of new lawsuits." A majority of the meeting, and decision, was based on a long-awaited health study presented by Dr. Howard Zucker, the state's interim health commissioner, who said it identified "significant public health risks" but also proved inconclusive in regards to any petroleum industry-proposed mitigation "over the long term." The state has had a moratorium on the controversial gas retrieval method since 2008, twice stepped back from previous DEC decisions for and against the process, and initiated the health review outlined Wednesday back in 2012. Martens said that based on his department's and the health department's findings, he was recommending a ban. Governor Cuomo added that he would defer to Martens and Acting Health Commissioner Howard Zucker in making the decision. "This decision seems to be self-executing between you two people. I love that... I don't think I have a role here," the Governor noted, adding that "very few people love the idea of fracking. What we need to do now is look at other things we can do to generate wealth as an alternative to it." When questions then arose about those who would not be happy with the anti-fracking decision, Cuomo noted how "there'll be a ton of lawsuits, I'm sure," and concluded, again, that "there is simply a lot of evidence on the table that this couldn't be done safely."

Let's see — calcium chloride, a naturally occurring salt, is used in food processing like pickles and potato chips, and is regularly used on our sidewalks and roads as a melting agent. That horrible "green house gas," carbon dioxide, is the basis of photosynthesis that combines carbon dioxide, sunlight, water and minerals to grow grass, trees, corn, wheat, potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, kale and many things essential to our existence, and discharges oxygen into the atmosphere which allows animal life to exist. The opposite of plants, when we breathe we take oxygen from the atmosphere and expel carbon dioxide, water and fertilizer. Amazing how plant and animal life work in an ecosystem.

Let's look at the method of getting the acid solution down to the gas bearing shale strata. Water bearing strata ends about 1,000 feet below the earth's surface and the gas bearing strata starts at a minimum of 4,000 feet down and usually 6,000 or 7,000 feet down. Multiple, concentric high pressure steel pipes are inserted in the drill hole and high strength concrete grout is injected between the casings. So, high strength steel casing with concrete grout penetrate through the thousand feet of water bearing rock and then go another few thousand feet deeper through rock to get to the gas bearing shale strata.

I once was given a tour of the Cargill salt mines under Cayuga Lake; 2,400 feet under the lake there is a 12 foot layer of pure salt evaporated from an ancient sea. A complete crushing plant has been built down there. The plant is constructed of mild steel, complete with expanded metal walkways with hand rails. The temperature is a constant 77 degrees maintained by the molten core of the earth. A 2 inch layer of salt dust covers everything, but there is no corrosion because there is no moisture. And that is only 1,400 feet lower than the water bearing strata. Most gas wells have four or five thousand feet of dry rock separating the gas bearing strata from your well.

What is the reason for the hysteria of Catskill Mountainkeeper? Our wells are protected by multiple steel pipes encased in high strength grout and 5,000 feet of solid, dry rock. When the fracking liquid is removed from the well it is transported, under rigid control, to a processing plant. This process is being successfully done across the United States and Canada.

And what is the result of this fracking operation? Over the last two years our gas prices have dropped by $1.50 per gallon. The price of home heating fuel is dropping and we are not paying $100 a barrel for oil two oceans away to people who want to destroy us and our way of life. That money is now spent in this country.

The areas of Pennsylvania and other states that allow fracking have full employment and people are migrating there for good paying jobs. Young people graduating high school in Pennsylvania have jobs to start their lives while local kids have to move away or stay at home with their parents and collect food stamps and EBT cards. Maybe, if we can reduce the cost of energy, we can start building things again so our kids will have jobs. When I was growing up in Ellenville we all had summer jobs and many worked after school. There are no jobs for kids now, and consequently they develop no skills to enable them to earn a living and contribute to our society. We are in trouble.

Look what has happened in Ellenville over the past decade. Several hundred good jobs have moved out of town, state and country. New York State has the highest taxes in the United States. People and businesses are moving out as fast as they can. New York State is rated as the worst state in the country for retirement. We need help and we have natural gas that will create jobs, pay taxes and reduce our cost of living.

But the Catskill Mountainkeeper does not have to be concerned about that. He lives in luxury in the Rockefeller enclave on the Upper Beaverkill and preaches to us about the evils of low cost fuel. I wonder what fuel, and how much, he uses to heat his home? I wonder if he heads to a family home in the Caribbean when it gets real cold? I wonder if the only job in town for his kid is at McDonald's? I wonder if his mother can't afford groceries because her heating bill has gone up $200 a month and limits her food so she can feed her dog?

This is the hypocrisy of the Progressive Left. Sacrifice and difficulty should only be experienced by the working class while the privileged head south and the dependent sector turns up their thermostats.

Maybe more of us should take Governor Cuomo's advice. Remember him saying, "If you are a Conservative or gun owner, you are not welcome in New York." Many can't move because they are upside down on their mortgages because of the destructive policies of the Progressive Socialists.

Every day more people are walking away from their homes and moving to other states to start over again.

Keep on pluggin' Mountainkeeper.