Republican Senator Puts Profits Ahead of Public Health
By Mike Connery on 08/09/2010 @ 03:36 PM
Republican corruption and ethical violations in the State Senate are nothing new. So what did it take for Republican incumbent Senator George Winner to be coined the “poster boy for Albany ethics mess” by The Daily News?
New Yorkers know that Winner is one of the most vocal supporters of permitting hydrofracking - a controversial and dangerous method of extracting natural gas from a miles-deep rock formation known as the Marcellus Shale. What New Yorkers didn’t know was that Winner’s law firm has done work for some of the very companies who are seeking to make millions off the process and who are lobbying the Senate to be able to drill upstate.
For a slam-dunk example of why the state Legislature needs ethical scrubbing, look no further than state Sen. George Winner.
The Daily News' Ken Lovett reveals that Winner has a glaring, previously hidden conflict of interest on an issue of grave concern to all water-drinking New Yorkers.
A Republican from upstate Elmira, Winner has been one of the Legislature's most outspoken proponents of opening New York to hydrofracking - a controversial and dangerous method of extracting natural gas from a miles-deep rock formation known as the Marcellus Shale.
What Winner managed to keep secret until now is that his law firm has done work for some of the very companies hankering to drill upstate.
Winner says that he is for full disclosure, but he failed to mention his stake in the outcome of the hydrofracking debate when it came up in the Senate last week. And in a true act of political cowardice, Winner is refusing to say who exactly his clients are -- or how much they are paying him. The Daily News put it mildly when they said this kind of corruption is simply “unacceptable, given the high stakes for New York's water quality. Not when one bad well sunk too close to New York City's reservoirs could ruin the drinking supply for millions.”
Fortunately, Winner is retiring at the end of his term. Republicans are locked in a primary to determine who will run for his open seat, but the Democratic candidate is already chosen, and she's ready to protect our environment and our drinking water. Pam Mackesey is running a strong campaign in the 53rd Senatorial District. Mackesey supports a moratorium on hydrofracking until all New Yorkers can be assured that it will not negatively impact their health in any way.
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