As a New Yorker who moved to the quiet countryside upstate a few years ago with my wife and three young children, I've been worried about fracking ever since I learned the word and heard this dangerous technology could be coming to town.
Where this risky gas drilling practice is already happening around the country -- including right next door in Pennsylvania -- we've seen grave consequences unfold: from drinking water contaminated with toxic chemicals and radioactive waste, to residents reportedly getting sick, livestock dropping dead, homes exploding, and property values tanking.
If that sounds like something straight out of an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation -- well, it is. But it's also a true story we've heard over and over again, nationwide.
Now, the big oil and gas corporations are knocking on our doors in New York, eager to frack here. My greatest fear is this story will be my own -- my wife's, my children's, and my neighbors' across upstate New York. We're outraged that these powerful outsiders want to come into our communities and pump toxic chemicals into the ground, right next to our water wells.
My friends in the city share our fears. They know that New York City's world-class drinking water could be poisoned and forever destroyed if fracking moves in.
That's why I've rallied a group of them -- Ethan Hawke, Zoë Saldana, Amy Ryan, Nadia Dajani and Josh Charles -- to team up with leading environmental groups and speak up. And speak up we have -- letting you into our kitchens, on a walk with the dog, fly fishing and even into our bathrooms to show you how much we love our safe tap water.
I hope you'll join us in calling on Governor Cuomo to keep New York's drinking water safe from fracking.
You see, as scary as fracking can be, there is good news here in New York. Governor Cuomo has a chance to get it right. He can show the rest of the nation how to protect families from risky drilling, so we and they are not left picking up the pieces of drilling gone wrong.
Our leaders in New York so far have been right to insist we understand the risks before we allow fracking to take place here. Instead of bowing to industry pressures to rush ahead and greenlight fracking without proper safety measures, the Governor should take all the time and resources necessary to ensure our drinking water is protected. That's an opportunity that other states didn't get.
The chorus of voices calling for Governor Cuomo to get it right is getting louder. Advocates like the groups behind Clean Water NOT Dirty Drilling (Catskill Mountainkeeper, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Earthjustice, EARTHWORKS, Environmental Advocates of New York, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Riverkeeper) who helped put this video together are working every day to make sure people in New York and across the country know the risks from fracking. It's not too late for you to join in.
My family moved to our quiet farming town on the Delaware River so we could enjoy a simple, healthy life outside of the bustling city. We want to enjoy that peace down the road, and know that the tap water we drink, and bathe our children in, is safe.
We're counting on Governor Cuomo to protect us -- and all New Yorkers who love their safe drinking water.'
Take action: Tell the state to protect New York's drinking water here.