Pete Seeger and Mark Ruffalo Speak Out in Albany

Folk music icon Pete Seeger and actor Mark Ruffalo joined elected officials and environmental advocates in Albany on Tuesday to warn that a new method of gas extraction is destructive, unpredictable, and a threat to public health.

Ruffalo, a Sullivan County resident who recently appeared in the film The Kids Are Alright, held up a jar of water from a Pennsylvania town where hydraulic fracturing has contaminated the water supply. He warned that New Yorkers could suffer the same fate unless the state legislature takes action in the coming days.

VIDEO: Mark Ruffalo speaks out on fracking:

Seeger, a longtime environmental activist, composed a song about fracking for the event highlighting the similarities between natural gas extraction and oil drilling: “And when 'drill baby drill' turns to 'spill baby spill,' God’s counting on me - God's counting on you.”

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Other speakers decried what they called a lack of leadership from officials in both parties. Ulster county legislator Susan Zimet announced Republican John Bonacic’s support for the Sweeey-Thompson bill (S8129B/A11443B) and called for the legislation to be brought to a floor vote. Zimet also promised that fracturing would become an election issue this fall if Albany fails to act.

Wayne Bayer, of the Department of Environmental Conservation staff union (PEF/ENCON. Div 169, NYS Public Employees Federation AFL-CIO), described the DEC’s inability to enforce existing regulations given the shortage of staff at the agency.

Tompkins County Executive Martha Robertson, Clearwater President Allan Shope, and Roger Downs of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, and Julia Walsh of Frack Action also spoke at the event.

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