[caption id="" align="alignright" width="145" caption="Gov. David Paterson"][/caption]Per Capitol Confidential, Gov. David Paterson tonight vetoed the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas from the Marcellus shale formation in New York. He also issued an executive order that does not permit fracturing until July 1, 2011. His statement in part:

Governor David A. Paterson has issued an Executive Order directing the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to conduct further comprehensive review and analysis of high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale. The Executive Order requires that, if approved, high-volume, horizontal hydraulic fracturing would not be permitted until July 1, 2011, at the earliest. This should allay any fears that high-volume hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling under study by DEC will commence without assurances of safety.... The Governor issued the Executive Order contemporaneously with his veto of S.8129-B/A.11443-B, which would have suspended the issuance of new oil and gas drilling permits through May 15, 2011, including all conventional, low-volume, vertical oil and gas wells. This legislation, which was well intentioned, would have a serious impact on our State if signed into law. Enacting this legislation would put people out of work – work that is permitted by the Department of Environmental Conservation and causes no demonstrated environmental harm, in order to effectuate a moratorium that is principally symbolic,” Governor Paterson said. “Symbols can have great importance, but particularly in our current terrible economic straits, I cannot agree to put individuals out of work for a symbolic act.”

The Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York's Executive Director Brad Gill said:

"We are grateful to Governor Paterson for his courage and clear-headed judgment in vetoing S.8129-B (Thompson)/A.11443-B (Sweeney). This bill would have had far-reaching consequences to the state's oil and natural gas industry, and to the communities in which our member companies work." Gill added, "We are very pleased that the governor saw the bill for what it was – a flawed piece of legislation replete with unintended and dire consequences for the people and businesses in our industry. Our members are aware of the considerable pressure put upon lawmakers and the governor to approve this bill. We're hopeful that the governor's veto today will set the stage for a more reasoned and rationale public discussion about these issues going forward."