Jon Campbell reports at democratandchronicle.com top Democrats in the state Assembly introduced a bill Tues., Feb. 25, to keep gas companies out of New York’s Marcellus and Utica shales until 2014. Speaker Sheldon Silver and Environmental Conservation Chairman Robert Sweeney are among more than 30 lawmakers signed onto the bill, which would implement a moratorium on drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus and Utica formations until May 14, 2014. The bill is similar to one passed by the Assembly last year, but with some key differences. The new legislation would specifically prohibit the state from issuing permits to drill in the Utica and Marcellus, two formations where high-volume hydraulic fracturing would be used to unlock gas. Read the full story at democratandchronicle.com