By PATRICK KELLY<\/p>\n
SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY \u2014 The New York State gubernatorial race has been closely watched this election cycle, with Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman challenging Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul for her spot in the governor\u2019s mansion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blakeman, a Donald Trump-endorsed candidate, has criticised Hochul on several fronts. Blakeman said that under Hochul\u2019s leadership New Yorkers are facing an increasingly unaffordable New York, and that people have grown tired of her leadership of the Empire State. He says if elected, he would make New York more affordable, more prosperous and more safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m running for governor because everywhere I go in this state, people are miserable under Kathy Hochul,\u201d Blakeman said. \u201cWhat I want to do is I want to make people happy again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The River Reporter talked with Blakeman and local activists to discuss Blakeman\u2019s platform and their differing visions for New York.<\/p>\n
Blakeman says \u2018frack yes\u2019<\/p>\n
One of the main tentpoles of Blakeman\u2019s platform is energy affordability. The issue has dominated the election cycle, with candidates up and down the ballot floating ideas for how to address the energy affordability crisis in the state. In laying out his plan, Blakeman said the state should repeal its fracking ban in order to get access to natural gas reserves in New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are sitting on one of the largest natural gas reserves in the world, here in New York State, and she won\u2019t let us extract that natural gas,\u201d Blakeman said. \u201cIf we extracted that natural gas, it would increase the supply, which would lower costs. We would create jobs, prosperity and generate tax revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blakeman also brought up Pennsylvania, saying that the neighboring state gets energy from fracking without a problem. When pressed about the impacts of fracking, Blakeman said that \u201cit\u2019s safe environmentally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only divided by a political subdivision. It\u2019s the same land, and in Pennsylvania, they do it without hurting the water supply,\u201d Blakeman said. \u201cThat\u2019s why they\u2019re doing much better in Pennsylvania. They\u2019re more prosperous. They\u2019re driving brand new Cadillac Escalades in Pennsylvania on the other side of the border; in the southern tier of New York, we\u2019re driving around in 25-year-old rusted-out pickup trucks.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, advocates disagree with Blakeman\u2019s assessment that fracking is safe for the environment. Barbara Arrindell, director of Pennsylvania nonprofit Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, said that it would be a mistake for a governor of New York to work to repeal its fracking ban.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the trade-off if you allow drilling? You just totally destroy your environment,\u201d Arrindell said. \u201cWhat\u2019s somebody\u2019s house and property worth if they have no potable water?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arrindell said that the water contamination with fracking is of high concern, saying that water that gets used in the process of fracking gets contaminated with 20 tons of chemicals per million gallons of water. \u201cThat\u2019s a lot. And it doesn\u2019t come back up. A lot of it stays underground which means it continues to migrate. Where fracking has been done, there\u2019s more and more aquifer contamination. It also comes all the way up to the surface and contaminated surface water, so there isn\u2019t potable drinkable water anywhere in a lot of these areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reporting from Politico<\/a> pushed back on Blakeman\u2019s claim that fracking would ease the utility affordability crisis, saying that \u201cfracking doesn\u2019t necessarily lead to lower utility bills.\u201d<\/p>\n Further complicating the issue is that New York\u2019s fracking ban was put into state law, requiring a measure repealing the law to pass through both houses of the state\u2019s legislature, which are comfortably in Democratic control. Blakeman\u2019s campaign did not respond to requests for comment clarifying how Blakeman would repeal the statute.<\/p>\n Hochul pushed back on Blakeman\u2019s claims and defended the fracking ban. \u201cI don\u2019t have any guarantee that the technology has gotten any better or more secure,\u201d Hochul said to Spectrum News<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve not seen that. Which is why I\u2019m leaning hard into our renewable energy systems and trying to find a path forward to get more capacity on the grid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Blakeman on immigration<\/p>\n One issue dominated the conversation with Blakeman about his vision for New York: immigration. Blakeman criticized the Hochul administration for spending money on undocumented immigrants, money that should have gone to New Yorkers.<\/p>\n \u201c[Hochul] spends money on illegal migrants, giving them free food, free housing, free transportation and a free cell phone when they haven\u2019t earned a thing,\u201d Blakeman said. \u201cShe\u2019s taking our taxpayer dollars\u2026 and giving it to illegal migrants when we could spend money on New Yorkers, on infrastructure, on schools, on hospitals and lowering energy costs.\u201d<\/p>\n Sandra Cuellar Oxford, a Sullivan County citizen activist who has worked in immigration policy, says that the idea that immigrants get preferential treatment is false. She said that immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants, face an uphill battle to get services.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI am unsure if he really understands what he\u2019s even talking about,\u201d Oxford said.<\/p>\n Oxford said that immigrants deliver substantially to local economies and communities. She said that undocumented immigrants often work in industries that citizens do not work in, industries that help power New York\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n \u201cUndocumented immigrants make a sizable contribution to New York, to many of our communities, and here in our region as well,\u201d Oxford said. \u201cWhen you look at these industries that many of them work in, they are contributing to the tax base, they are renters. Many individuals who happen to be immigrants are very industrious with their contributions.\u201d<\/p>\n Oxford also said that the state should work to be more welcoming and inclusive of immigrants, not less. \u201cTheir families and their community deserve an opportunity to thrive and to flourish here, and we should be welcoming immigrants because of the contributions that they make.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Blakeman\u2019s campaign did not respond to comment responding to Oxford\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n Blakeman also floated the idea that Democrats were attempting to sway the election by allowing undocumented immigrants to vote. He said that Adrienne Adams, Hochul\u2019s lieutenant governor nominee, supported the notion, and that the idea \u201cmaterially diminishes the safety and the integrity of our state.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c[Adams said] that illegal migrants should vote in our elections. They\u2019re not stakeholders. They have no interest. They have no investment in our state,\u201d Blakeman said. \u201cSo I am concerned that Kathy Hochul, by choosing her, will have allies that are going to have illegal migrants try to vote in our elections.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s campaign responded to this in February, saying that, \u201cThe Governor sets policy for the state of New York\u2014she does not support this measure,\u201d\u00a0 according to reporting by the New York Post<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n