New York moves to update its fracking ban to include liquid carbon-dioxide as well as water

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Natural gas drilling companies would be banned in New York from using an extraction method that involves injecting large amounts of liquified carbon dioxide deep underground under a bill moving through the state legislature.

The measure would immediately block a Texas company that wants to use the method as an alternative to hydraulic fracturing with a water-based solution.

The bill passed in the state Assembly on March 12. The state Senate is expected to vote this week.

The company, Southern Tier Solutions, says on its website that it wants to use carbon captured from power plants, rather than water, to extract natural gas in New York’s Southern Tier, where the underground rock formations make more traditional drilling methods unprofitable.

Opponents say the company is simply trying to use a different mix of chemicals to circumvent New York’s ban on hydraulic fracturing, and they claim that using captured carbon instead of water involves many of the same environmental risks.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Democrat, said New York doesn’t have much of an appetite for allowing fracking of any kind. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office said she would review the legislation.

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