Maurice

A coalition of 48 House lawmakers led by Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Jared Polis (D-CO) have fired off a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar expressing their support for the department’s plans to require public disclosure of the chemicals that producers use in the hydraulic fracturing (fracking) process for development of shale gas.

The controversy over hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the production of shale gas was a key issue in a congressional race in upstate New York. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), a vocal critic of fracking who is seeking his 10th two-year term, was leading George Phillips, a Republican from Broome County, NY, who supports shale development and state regulation of fracking, by 90,412 to 82,292, or 52.4% to 47.5% on election night, but Phillips refused to concede as of Friday, the Daily Freeman reported. Phillips said he was awaiting the outcome of 12,600 absentee votes that remain to be counted. Fracking was an issue in House races in Pennsylvania and in Texas, but the race in New York was “the most contentious one,” said Phillips spokesman Jazz Shaw. Fracking, which is used to stimulate many shale wells, is a process in which fluids are injected at high pressure into underground rock formations to fracture the rock and increase the flow of fossil fuels. “The public made [fracking] an issue” in the congressional race, Shaw said.

The controversy over hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the production of shale gas has become a major issue in a tight congressional race in upstate New York.

A coalition of 89 House Democrats led by Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Tuesday urging him to take administrative action to protect energy-rich Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in Utah from development while Congress continues to work on legislation to designate them as wilderness.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) Tuesday called on the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review the agency’s policy on the risk of hydraulic fracturing — where chemicals are used to stimulate oil and natural gas production — to the nation’s drinking water.

With concerns mounting about the effects of hydraulic fracturing on water supplies, New York Rep. Maurice Hinchey last week vowed to aggressively push to close a legislative loophole that exempts the drilling practice from regulation under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).

With concerns mounting about the effects of hydraulic fracturing on water supplies, New York Rep. Maurice Hinchey Wednesday vowed to aggressively push to close a legislative loophole that exempts the drilling practice from regulation under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). If the legislation passes, it could be a game-changer for the natural gas industry, because nine out of every 10 gas wells use the process, a producer told NGI.

A letter sent to more than 160,000 Utah residents earlier this month indirectly links New York Democratic Rep. Maurice Hinchey to “hostile foreign nations” for Hinchey’s support of the Red Rock Wilderness Act, a bill to designate 9.4 million acres of public land in Utah as wilderness.

A letter sent to more than 160,000 Utah residents in the past week indirectly links New York Democratic Rep. Maurice Hinchey to “hostile foreign nations” for Hinchey’s support of the Red Rock Wilderness Act, a bill to designate 9.4 million acres of public land in Utah as wilderness.