The New York Times floated something of trial balloon from the Cuomo administration last week, publishing a piece suggesting the governor may soon release the details of a plan that would allow some of the state’s landowners the opportunity to finally produce their minerals, while leaving other folks out.

Needless to say, it got a lot of attention – with some supporters seeing it as evidence that New York may be finally ready to proceed with Marcellus development. Others, of course, had a very different take – many residing in counties that, for whatever reason, didn’t make Cuomo’s cut (actually the DEC's cut).

The Times article and remarks of Gov. Cuomo made on Fred Dicker's radio show (30:35) last week have generated lots of comments and raised more than their fair share of questions. The two principal elements of the supposed deal, on which Cuomo was nothing less than officially equivocal in the Dicker interview, are 1) the restriction of natural gas development to certain geographies and 2) geography aside, development only made available to communities that “want” it. Both raise troubling issues for industry and landowners, not to mention inevitable political difficulties for the governor himself -- although it's also possible, I suppose, it could also be the best thing since Lee Iacocca came up with the Mustang. Let's consider the issues.

http://eidmarcellus.org/marcellus-shale/strange-marcellus-shale-rum...