Southern Tier, Hudson Valley Oppose Fracking 51 to 35%
Majorities Agree: Hydrofracking Will Generate Jobs & Be Economic Benefit…But
Over 50% Concerned Environmental Risks are Unacceptable
Loudonville, NY., Fifty-one percent of voters oppose the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) allowing hydrofracking to move forward in parts of upstate New York while 35 percent support the initiative according to the third part of a new Time Warner Cable News/Siena College Poll of registered voters of the Southern Tier/Finger Lakes and Catskills/Hudson Valley regions.
A majority of voters from the two regions, including 60 percent of voters from the Southern Tier/Finger Lakes regions, agree that hydrofracking would be an economic benefit to local communities in business activity and tax revenues. And, 55 percent of voters, including 65 percent from the Southern Tier/Finger Lakes region, agree that hydrofracking will generate much needed jobs for New Yorkers.
At the same time, 60 percent of all voters believe that hydrofracking runs the unacceptable risk of contaminating ground water, and small majorities agree both that fracking is too dangerous as it leads to unsafe levels of methane gas being released, as well as due to the migration of gases and chemicals to the surface.
“While our statewide polling has consistently shown New Yorkers to be closely divided on fracking, here in the areas close to the proposed drilling a majority now says, no. Despite the allure of needed jobs and economic development, more voters in these areas are tipping their internal scale due to environmental concerns,” said Don Levy, SRI’s Director.
This Time Warner Cable News/Siena College Poll was drawn from polling conducted July 20 – 23, 2014 by telephone calls to 816 registered voters from the three upstate New York regions of the Capital Region, the Catskills/Hudson Valley Region and the Southern Tier/Finger Lakes Region. Questions in this release were only asked of voters from the Catskills/Hudson Valley and the Southern Tier/Finger Lakes (n=544). It has an overall margin of error of +/- 4.2 percentage points for the composite overall area and margins of error for the individual regions of +/- 5.9 Catskills/Hudson and +/- 6.0 Southern Tier/Finger Lakes. Data was statistically adjusted by age, gender and party to ensure representativeness. The Siena College Research Institute, directed by Donald Levy, Ph.D., conducts political, economic, social and cultural research primarily in New York State. SRI, an independent, non-partisan research institute, subscribes to the American Association of Public Opinion Research Code of Professional Ethics and Practices. For more information, call Don Levy at 518-783-2901. For survey cross-tabs and frequencies: www.Siena.edu/SRI/SNY.
Catskills/Hudson Valley – Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties
Southern Tier/Finger Lakes – Broome, Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Tioga, Tompkins and Wayne Counties
