New York – In response to the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York’s political endorsements for next week’s upcoming elections, Eileen Hamlin, a Citizen Action of New York board member, said:
This week’s announcement by the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York endorsing candidates for elected office statewide is emblematic of a larger problem in New York, where our elected leaders are being influenced by corporate donations and corporate self interest at the expense of the common good. In this instance, it’s the natural gas industry throwing their support behind pro-hydrofracking candidates in an attempt to push through local and state legislation that creates a favorable environment for their destructive hydrofracking process. The grassroots have given their support and time to candidates like Cecilia Tkaczyk for State Senate and Tarik Abdelazim for Broome County Executive who are standing up to the natural gas industry and are instead listening to the constituents they wish to represent. On Election Day, we urge voters to reject the natural gas industry’s agenda to wreak havoc on our environment and economy.