Update 1: the important info now top, front and center: The NYS Democratic primary is 9 September. You can help unseat Cuomo by contributing to, or volunteering for, the campaign of Zephyr Teachout, a progressive alternative. Learn more here, contribute here, volunteer here.
Update 2: I thought I should highlight another important aspect of this race, which might appeal particularly to out-of-staters. One of Teachout's primary interests is campaign finance reform, and she is one of the leading legal experts on political corruption. Her arguments were cited in the Citizens United case by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. If she could become governor of NY, not only would many New Yorkers be relieved that Cuomo was gone, but residents of other states could expect her to get behind efforts to clean up politics and overturn Citizens United.
Update 3: I got some very interesting (and nuanced) information from a friend about fracking that I am sharing, with his permission. See below, at the end of my original diary.
Disclaimer: I'm not really up on my New York politics... and I haven't been following US politics or Daily Kos much in recent months. I know, sorry. But I will now try to "contribute my little stone" (steentje bijdragen) as they say in Dutch, and tell you about my interesting afternoon.
Background: I am an American lving in Belgium, but this month I am in Ithaca to help with memorial services for my mom and to support my dad. My mom was a good Democrat, and was following the anti-fracking movement. It was personal for her and my dad, as the owner of the land right behind their house (where I grew up and they have lived more than 50 years) has sold fracking rights to Big Oil. Today the anti-fracking activists were having a gathering and they had invited Cuomo's primary opponent to come speak, and dad asked if I wanted to go.
I said what many people have probably said before me, "What? Cuomo has a Democratic opponent?" And, "Does he have any chance at all?" The answer was, yes, Cuomo has an opponent, and she is young and energetic and running with a Chinese American from NYC and they are both lawyers. My response was, oh well.... I can see the writing on the wall. She may be wonderful and progressive and intelligent and everything, but she can't win. But what the heck, let's go see what she has to say to the fracktovists.
Read about my impressions after the fluffy cloud-like symbol associated with progressive Democratic politics.
(And thanks, on behalf of my dad and my late mother, for reading this diary and putting it on the rec list!)
So we went and heard Zephyr Teachout speak -- Andrew Cuomo's primary opponent.
Her first statement was, "Yes, my name is Zephyr Teachout... and yes... we all have crosses to bear, and for me that is one of them." Kids used to tease her mercilessly in school, she said with a laugh, linking her name with young cows... So I liked her from the beginning -- she has a sense of humor and isn't afraid to laugh at herself. And, she smiles a lot. And, she doesn't talk like a politician. In fact, she answered questions like a normal person would, without a long list of qualifiers in the beginning. You know that list: "considering blah blah blah, and based on my background as blah blah blah, I would hesitate to say blah blah blah, but in such and such circumstances I would...." and by then the person who asked the question is half hypnotized and just wants to hurry up and finish the interview and go home to bed. So Zephyr was (dare I say it?) a breath of fresh air.
"Where do you stand on issues outside of fracking, like healthcare? Are you in favor of single payer, for example?" Answer: Yes, I am in favor of single payer. And then a few nuances, like, implementing it first via dental coverage. (I don't know anything about this, but was impressed that she did.)
"Where do you stand on legalizing marijuana?" Answer: I am in favor of it. And then some reasons why, including references to high incarceration rates, primariily among people of color, for possession, and how that makes no sense and is a waste of resources and lives. Her qualifier, which I think is very good: be sure that any system that comes in to market marijuana is a system that supports small businesses and farmers. A big theme for her was keeping control out of the hands of the few and the powerful, which I liked a lot.
And of course she was against fracking and for clean energy development (even going so far as to say that she'd like to see all fossil fuel exploitation -- drilling, mining, etc. -- in New York ended, with the idea that this could also be a model and inspiration for other states.) She didn't mince words about Cuomo, saying in essence that he is promising anti-frackers that there will be a moratorium and promising his big contributors that there will be exceptions for them, and eventually, after the elections are past, the exceptions will become the rule. Because that is how it works in Albany.
Apparently, Zephyr Teachout has a strong background in anti-corruption areas as well as her strong interest in anti-trust issues and small businesses and farmers. (I admit I had to go educate myself by reading earlier diaries here on Daily Kos: here and here)
And, she was for more spending on education (saying something like educating our children is vital to our national security), and against tax cuts for the rich....
She didn't know anything about the latest Big Oil plans to store gas (?) in empty salt caves (?) in upstate New York, with possible horrific consequences for local farmers and vineyards -- but she listened attentively and said she would look into the situation immediately and consult her scientific advisors. I thought that was the right response -- a politician can't be aware of every local issue, and it is so irritating when they try to avoid the topic or dismiss its importance in order to hide their lack of knowledge.
Basically, she said all the right things, in the right way, and came across as friendly and intelligent without being nerdy or professorial.
My conclusion at that point was: it's really too bad that she could never ever win. Because she is up against the incumbant, and he has far more money than she has, and all kinds of connections, and few scruples, and she is too nice. Nice people always finish last. A real shame.
But then, there was some hopeful news. Cuomo is continuing to self-destruct around various ethics issues. And, the experts in Teachout's campaign have been doing their homework regarding the numbers. Apparently (and I just have to take their word for this) the Democratic primary in New York offers unique opportunities. Registered Republicans can not vote in it, and normally just a small percentage of registered Democrats participate. The Democratic voters who vote in the primary are overwhelmingly those with higher educations and higher political involvement. In short, if everyone who has been active in the anti-fracking movement in New York gets out to vote in the primary, she will win. Turnout is everything.
Teachout was apparently behind Howard Dean's 50 state strategy so hopefully she and her team know what they are talking about.
Unfortunately I am not registered to vote in New York, but I hope I've done something to help by posting this diary. Please read more about Zephyr Teachout on her webpage, contribute something to her campaign if you can, and most importantly, tell any registered NY Democrats that you know to get out to vote on September 9!
Thanks!
I am tempted to end this dary with some begging-to-be-used slogans... "Vote for Zephyr, a breath of fresh air" or "Turn out for Teachout" but I'm no marketing wizard... probably a bad idea....
another addition: I asked a question during the Q&A about whether she was trying to work with any big names in progressive politics outside of New York, to try to get more exposure, help with financing etc., and I gave Elizabeth Warren as an example. She answered that she is a huge fan of Elizabeth Warren but has found that the big names are rather skittish about backing her. The PCCC came out recently with an endorsement, and that contributed to a big boost in interest on her website, but she wasn't going to actively go seeking help outside NYS. That's when I thought, if she won't do it, I'll write a diary for Daily Kos... and hope that it might lead to her, say, getting an appearance on the Rachel Maddow show, or the attention of other influential people. If anyone has any ideas or inside connections... let's go for it! (Does anyone know if Kirsten Gillibrand has taken a stand in this election?)
Update 3: I will quote exactly from two emails from a friend, that clarify and complicate the whole fracking question, all at once.
I thought it important to share my views, which are based on the latest analysis and understanding of hydraulic fracturing and its merits for greenhouse gas reduction and the environmental risks in terms of methane leakage and groundwater contamination.
This is a highly complex topic. I am fully in favor of stringent environmental standards and rigorous enforcement. Whether a given state agency and environmental officials are up to the task without further training is a legitimate question and may warrant delays in allowing shale gas extraction. However, one should be aware that blanket bans, if made widespread, could limit a resource that has played a very important role in U.S. emissions reductions over the past 6 years. U.S. emissions were down to their lowest levels since 1994 last year, with the majority of that drop coming from natural gas substitution for coal. U.S. emissions have dropped year on year every year but one since 2007, with the drop being attributable first to natural gas and then to increased wind generation.
Internationally, shale gas is poised to have an even greater impact in places like India and China, where coal use is higher than in the United States and is most often used in plants without scrubbers, hence the incredible levels of air pollution we frequently see on the news. Though it's easy to say we should just do everything with renewables, the unfortunate economic reality is that it is going to take time to get sufficient quantities of renewable generation on line to displace coal in a meaningful way. Wind generation in the United States currently supplies just 4.1% of electricity, while solar is only 0.2% (biomass and geothermal are larger than solar and make the total non-hydro renewable generation 6.2%). I am fully supportive of dramatically increasing those shares, but also understand the practical reality that entails, here and around the world.
My bottom line is that we should be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water by dealing in absolutes with regard to fracking. Remember, all that coal is being mined somewhere too, and all of its pollution is going into the atmosphere.
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Sure, please do (share what I wrote). It IS complicated and I don't feel warm and fuzzy about fracking in the Finger Lakes. On the other hand, we've got to do whatever we can to get CO2 emissions down, even if it's locally inconvenient.
One other thing, just FYI. Fracking is actually dominated by small players, not the big oil companies. That's one of the problems. Environmental disasters like the Exxon Valdez and BP Macondo in the Gulf notwithstanding, the large oil companies tend to have better safety records than smaller players (think adequate budget for safety/environmental training). The barrier for entry for frack jobs is pretty low, so a small player without an environmental track record (or budget) can get in and start fracking pretty easily. So the fact that it's mainly smaller companies rather than the majors can actually be a problem. The majors certainly have a lot of political clout, which presents its own problems, but they also have more of a reputation to uphold. You can't count on that with the smaller companies.
The big legislative issue is that Congress specifically left regulation of fracking to the states, and many of them don't have the experience to regulate well. That's where NY and PA really need to beef up. TX and CO and WY all have a lot of experience, but others don't. There have been proposals to regulate fracking at the national level, which would enable setting of minimum standards, but of course Congress hasn't passed them.
As you can probably tell, I had to do some research on this for my job.
So.... I need to digest this and can't add much more at the moment. It does give me a new appreciation for Walter Hang's approach, which is not to say that fracking is bad per se, but to say that NYS needs more controls in place for safety before they go forward.
I'll also add that this friend of mine is a great guy, has been working in DC on topics around climate change for years and is a real expert... and he is now looking for similar work on the West coast, preferably within a non-profit agency. So if anyone knows of a good position, feel free to let me know and I'll pass the tip on....