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At the ‘Frack It Up’ Rally Taking Aim at NY Governor Cuomo

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Frack It Up
Pramilla Malick

Pramilla Malick is a regular Minisink mom, and the Democratic nominee for NYS Senate in the 42nd district of New York. She said at the event’s start:

“Valentine’s Day is an appropriate day for us to send a message to Gov Cuomo and to other elected officials that it’s time to Break Up with Fossil Fuels. Break Up with their lobbyists, break up with their donation money. IT’S TIME TO LOVE NEW YORK, LOVE OUR AIR LOVE OUR WATER AND PUT PEOPLE FIRST”.

Demonstrators at this event were protesting the latest allegations of the corruption of Joseph Percoco, one of the two of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s closest aids, who used ‘ziti’ as a codeword for payoffs tied to Cuomo’s upstate nefarious dealings. Percoco is a long-time friend to the Cuomo family who was considered a “third son” to Andrew Cuomo’s father Mario Cuomo, former Governor of New York state from 1983 to 1994. Percoco has been accused publicly of “taking $315k in bribes by robbing a Maryland-based energy company and a Syracuse development firm in pay-to-play schemes”.

From the event’s Facebook page, titled “LOVE NY DON’T FRACK IT UP! CUOMO MUST BREAK UP WITH LOBBYISTS“.

Right now one of the biggest corruption trials in NY’s history is underway involving Cuomo’s closest former aide and an executive from CPV, a company that bought influence at the highest levels of government to build the CPV Valley fracked-gas power plant in Orange County. This plant will lock NYC into fracked gas dependency for the NEXT 40 YEARS!! We know what this means for the climate and for communities from the fracking fields in PA to the power plant. in NY. Absolute catastrophe! This plant alone will support 150 fracking wells per year and increase the state’s greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector by 10%. Built on bribes and lies why has Cuomo not yet shut it down?? And even worse, just as this trial began the power plant fired up sickening residents as far as ten miles away.

This story is being covered extensively by major media but no one is reporting on the victims of these alleged crimes. Please use social media or write LTEs to tell the media to cover the victims!! 

A hundred or so demonstrators came out yesterday to tell Gov Cuomo to ‘Break up with Big Fossil Fuel’ companies. Many came from Orange County, New York to protest the CPV power plant being built in their area.
Celebrity actor James Cromwell (far right) standing with the crowd. Cromwell has been involved in many demonstrations and has been arrested and served a couple of days in jail. In the photo he is waiting for his turn to speak.

Running against Governor Cuomo in the next election is Terry Gibson, a former NY state Senator from the Hudson Valley. He stopped by to tell the crowd, “I intend to primary Governor Cuomo as a ‘justice Democrat’ to help the people of New York. Today I’m here to say, We don’t need a court trial to tell us what we already know about hydraulic fracturing. We’ve known for a long time that it’s a toxic process. It’s toxic to our families, it’s toxic to our water supplies, to our food supply, to our state and planet”.
Scott Martan lives in Orange County, NY with his wife Melissa and their two sons, one which they brought today, Isaac. Scott spoke at the event and said, “This is about everybody, it’s not just about us in Orange County. We are ground zero for the destruction right now but, if we don’t stop this now, we’re all going to be the victims.” Scott read a quote from Governor Cuomo, ‘Too often governments respond to the whispers of the lobbyists before the cries of the people, and that’s what they’re doing out here”.
Melissa Marten of Orange County holding one of her young sons, Isaac, speaking about not knowing anything about the CPV power plant until last year at this time. When it was constructed – that’s how the community found out. “It was kept from us, there was no notification, no public announcement. We contacted everyone to help us and everybody passed the buck. We have 40 years, they’re telling us, 40 years of VOC’s (volatile organic compounds), a particulate matter. Everyday, all day that we have to breathe. My sons will be older than I am now before this place runs its course.”
From an organization, Beyond Extreme Energy, Ted Glick also spoke: “I just want to talk about one thing, gas is not clean. Gas is a dirty fossil fuel. It pollutes our air. It is worse than coal when is comes to climate change”.
Laura Schindel of Food and Water Watch, an organization which has led the fight against fracking, started out with a chant, “Cuomo and fossil fuels sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first come bribes then comes permits then CPV and we all get polluted”.
Tina Bonger from Stop the Algonquin Pipeline Expansion (SAPE) who lives a quarter mile from the Indian Point Power Plant and the AIM pipeline due to be shut down. She said, “They say all politics is local. The power from Indian Point is not needed and neither is power from CPV and Cricket Valley. You can see that, that’s on record, go to the town of Portland website. You can see these independent grid experts testify to the fact that we don’t need this energy AND THE REASON WE DON’T NEED THIS ENERGY IS BECAUSE OF RENEWABLES, OF GREEN HABITS AND STANDARDS”.
Frack It Up
New York City Council Member Jumaane Williams spoke about how corruption is normal in Albany.

'Frack It Up' Rally

Frack It Up
“This is the Valentine’s Day card that will be delivered to Governor Cuomo showing a picture of NY state’s famed black dirt region. It’s a world famous mineral rich formation in Orange County and the power plant will completely contaminate this rare soil,” Pramilla Malick stated.
Artist and activist Kim Fraczek spoke about the upcoming action in Albany on April 23rd named “Storm the Castle, Halt NY InFRACKstructure”. See the ‘Stop NY Infrackstructure‘ website.
Actor James Cromwell

And then actor James Cromwell spoke briefly but powerfully stating:

“We don’t have a ban a fracking, we have a moratorium. It doesn’t have the power of law behind it, it only has the whim of this Governor and the whim of the next governor. If we want to make a change in this state we have to make sure the next Governor is a Progressive who understands the danger of fossil fuel and these kinds of power plants. There is corruption in Washington, there is corruption in Albany, there is corruption in this city. The only way we’re going to do it is vote for those people who don’t accept money from pacs, from large corporations and from dark money. YOU CAN PROTEST ALL YOU WANT, YOU CAN EVEN GO TO JAIL, IT DOESN’T STOP ANYTHING”.

For my video of James Cromwell’s powerful talk see here:

https://www.facebook.com/AprilWatters4/videos/10214875922162551/

The livestream of the entire event I recorded can be seen here:

https://www.facebook.com/AprilWatters4/videos/10214875322507560/

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