FRACKING PRESSURE BUILDS — Capital’s Scott Waldman: 

The pressure to lift or extend the state's six-year moratorium on fracking intensified within hours of Governor Andrew Cuomo's re-election victory Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning, environmentalists were calling for more study on fracking. Energy industry officials said heavy Republican victories showed the state was ready for natural gas drilling. The administration recently indicated that a decision would be coming after the election. http://bit.ly/1x7iMW0

By Wednesday morning, environmentalists were calling for more study on fracking, and Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, fresh off a record performance for his party, all but dared the governor to lift the moratorium.

Meanwhile, energy industry officials said Republican victories in the State Senate and elsewhere showed the state was ready for natural gas drilling.

In the weeks leading up to the election, the governor shifted his rhetoric on a state study of fracking's health risks to indicate it could be close to completion. For about two years, Cuomo has generally avoided direct answers on the final completion date for the study and has said it would be ready when "science" determined its completion. A release of the study would be the state's first significant movement in years toward a final decision on fracking.