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13 Sep Hydro-fracking, hope and polarization

Since the rise of importance of the Marcellus Shale, the question of hydraulic fracturing in rural parts of Pennsylvania and upstate New York has lit up numerous conversations about the economic and environmental impact of natural gas drilling-- particularly the effect on the water table and watershed in these areas, and how those feed urban areas like Philadelphia and New York City. I first became aware of what was going on through an article in New York Magazine a couple years ago. I was fascinated to see my hometown, Binghamton NY, covered in such an emotionally exciting way. Most of the coverage you see about these parts of upstate New York are about the ongoing struggles of survival: an economic depression since the 1980s has ravaged this rural-industrial and robbed it of the resources it needs to grow again. Luckily, it wasn't terribly affected by the burst of housing bubble--because it never saw the rise in value in the first place. It's the seventh cloudiest city in the country, something that is not lost on its residents and their mood.