Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
The campaign for Federal, State and Local offices in 2012.

GOP Senate Candidate Urges Action on Fracking

The Republican Senate candidate challenging Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Wendy Long, is urging swift action on hydro fracking in New York.

Wendy Long says the announcement by the US geological survey that the Utica Shale deposit, which lies below the Marcellus Shale,  is even larger than predicted, should mean even more jobs for New Yorkers, and she urged her opponent in the race, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to be more supportive of fracking.  Governor Cuomo has once again delayed a report on whether to allow fracking, saying health data needs to be reviewed first, but Long says she doesn’t blame Cuomo for delays, but rather what she calls the “celebrity” led opposition that he faces.

“I think he’s in a very lonely place,” Long said.

Long says if Cuomo were to eventually decide to decide not to allow fracking in the state, then she would “criticize” him.

The Republican candidate says if elected she’d vote to repeal Obamacare. But says she would not support a federal tax code overhaul if it meant eliminating state and local tax deductions from federal income taxes.

Karen DeWitt is Capitol Bureau chief for the New York Public News Network, composed of a dozen newsrooms across the state. She has covered state government and politics for the network since 1990.