New York State is considering whether and how to move forward with hydrofracking in the state, and by TOTAL COINCIDENCE the natural gas industry has spent $1.3 million — a fortune in state-level campaign finance — in donations to the New York legislators who will decide its fate.
According to an analysis by Common Cause New York, most of the money went to candidates for state legislature. Republicans received more than twice as much as Democrats; Gov. Andrew Cuomo's campaign committee received more than $150,000. That doesn't put the gas industry that high up among sectors donating to Cuomo. But it's probably didn't hurt in convincing the governor that fracking could go forward with the right regulatory framework.
