Portside

In a testament to the power of one of the greatest grassroots movements this state has ever seen, Commissioners Dr. Nirav Shah of the Department of Health (DOH) and Joseph Martens of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have announced today that they will postpone the decision on whether to allow high-volume hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in New York State pending further review of fracking’s impacts on human health.

Fifty or a hundred years from now, the fiscal cliff, the current tensions with Russia, and many other issues that now seem pressing will be remembered dimly, if at all. What will be remembered is whether, as then-Senator Obama said in June of 2008, “this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” It was an inspiring call to action then; in the wake of the droughts, the wildfires, and hurricane Sandy, it’s even more so now.