(MintPress) – Environmental advocates in New York claim Lawrence Schwartz, secretary to Governor Cuomo, has personal investments in oil and gas companies, a major conflict of interest that could delay any concrete decision on natural gas drilling in New York.
With the decision on hydraulic fracturing in New York perhaps just one week away, seven environmental groups representing thousands of New York residents have lodged a complaint with the Albany County District Attorney General in what could be a last ditch effort to stop fracking in New York.
Government watch dog and environmental groups including Public Citizen, Food and Water Watch, Frack Action, United for Action, Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy and Capital District Against Fracking all believe that Lawrence Schwartz has a major conflict of interest when it comes to the fracking issue in New York state.
Indeed the governor’s secretary reportedly has a direct financial interest in fracking. Schwartz stands to receive a financial return because of his personal holdings in Occidental Petroleum, Williams Companies, ExxonMobil/XTO and General Electric (GE).
Dating back to 2002, Schwartz has held at least $1,000 in the aforementioned companies, all of which are corporations that could get contracts to open fracking wells should New York greenlight hydraulic fracturing.
It is no surprise that Schwartz has also been one of the strongest proponents of fracking in Cuomo’s administration.
In their complaint, environmental groups cite N.Y. Pub. Off. § 74(3)(g), a law prohibiting public officials from making financial investments that would “create substantial conflict between his duty in the public interest and his private interest.”
Schwartz’s action could also constitute insider trading, which is considered a federal offense. If found guilty, Schwartz would also be in violation of the Stop on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK Act)—a bill reinforcing existing laws prohibiting elected officials from engaging in insider trading.
The bill was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in April 2012.
The possible scandal within the Cuomo administration could be the tipping point in the ongoing struggle to ban fracking in the state of New York.
Public opposition to fracking has grown considerably in recent months. Recent demonstrations in Albany New York have drawn thousands of protesters demanding the Governor ban fracking statewide.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) concluded a public comment period last month, allowing citizens to voice their opinions, positive or negative, about fracking. The vast majority of the more than 200,000 public comments were in opposition to fracking.
This more than triples the 66,000 comments received during the 2012 comment period, an indication that public opposition to the hydraulic fracturing is growing in the Empire State.
This is underscored by the fact that, 326 cities, towns, and counties across the U.S. have passed resolutions banning or limiting hydraulic fracturing. The majority of these resolutions are in the Northeastern U.S. where there are major underground deposits of natural gas stored in the Marcellus Shale formation.