Anti-fracking advocates have taken out a full-page ad in the Des Moines Register warning potential White House contender Gov. Andrew Cuomo that his decision whether to lift the moratorium on fracking in the Marcellus Shale “will be remembered forever” if they have anything to say about it.

POLITICO reports the ad, which will run in tomorrow’s paper, was paid for by more than 135 groups that oppose the controversial natural gas drilling technique, including a host of local organizations and some big-name national groups like Bill McKibben’s 350.org; the Sierra Club and Greenpeace.

“Stand up for people over pollution,” the ad reads. “Don’t allow a single fracked shale gas well in New York. This is your chance to be a national leader on climate. Your choice now will be remembered forever.”

(Of course, there already are fracked wells in New York, as the industry likes to point out. But they’re vertical, not horizontal).

The Des Moines Register is the largest and most influential newspaper in Iowa, which hosts the first-in-the-nation presidential contest every four years (in this case, caucuses, not primaries, which is a designation that belongs to New Hampshire).

Cuomo is widely believed to be mulling a presidential run in four years, even though he has repeatedly insisted that is not the case.

The next deadline for a decision on fracking is Feb. 27, though tecnically speaking the revised SGEIS has to be released by the 13th – Wednesday.

Last week, state Department of Environmental Commissioner Joe Martens suggested at a joint legislative budget hearing that the Feb. 27 deadline would not, in fact, be met, saying it all depends on the Department of Health finishing its review of the potential public health impact on fracking and what, if any, recommendations might be made as a result of its findings.

Gannett’s Jon Campbell reported last week that three outside experts tapped by the state to conduct an independent assessment of the public health review had completed their work weeks ago.

Anti-fracking ad in Des Moines register targets Cuomo by

Share|