Tom Shepstone

Shepstone Management Company, Inc.

.

…

Andrew Cuomo is sneaking a permanent fracking ban into his state budget; a ban on the development of the raw material used to make plastics saving lives.

The fracking ban enacted on December 17, 2014 was a travesty but it wasn’t a permanent ban. New York’s sellout governor, though, promised fractivists he would make it permanent. He’s doing so now by throwing into a state budget where it will get very little attention; a typical slight-of-hand by possibly the nation’s most politically corrupt governor. One of our readers notes what this means in terms of the health crisis the Empire State faces at the moment.

Our reader offers up this regarding the Cuomo plan:

For New York State (Cuomo) to ban the process (hydo-fracking) that provides the raw material (oil and natural gas) for all plastics during a shortage of plastic medical supplies is unconceivable, extremely reckless, shortsighted and down right dangerous. Plastics are essential and life saving, they are used in thousands of products that increase the quality and safety of everyday life. To name just a few essential products made from oil and natural gas: Ventilators

Masks

Goggles

IV bags

Nearly all medical PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)

Heart stents

Surgical gloves

Syringes

Insulin pens

IV tubes

Catheters

Inflatable splints

Incubators

Dialysis tubing

Artificial hip and knees

Plastic pill casings (medicine)

Plastic implants for hearing

Bed pans,

Tube fittings

Plastic cups and pitchers

Eye patches

Inhalation masks

Disposable gowns

Wipes

Droppers

Urine continence and ostomy products.

Tamper-proof caps

Petri dishes And thousands more items. Like body bags (If all natural gas drilling was totally banned plastics would be in such short supply we would be wrapping both are meats from the grocery store and our dead from Covid-19 in newspapers) The use of plastic materials in hospitals is, in fact, almost endless. Thanks to the use of plastic, the US leads the world in keeping the rate of cross-staph infection down. Modern healthcare would be impossible without the many plastic-based medical products we take for granted. Other essential uses of plastic (oil and natural gas) Bicycle helmets

Window safety glass

Plastics for food packaging

Seat belts

Flexible nylon/polyester air bags

Cushioned foam dashboards

Shock absorbing bumpers

Firefighter PPE, including jacket, pants, and boots

Space suits

Bullet-proof glass

Eyeglasses

Sandwich bags

Toothbrushes

Toothpaste tubes

Plastic containers for household/medical cleaning products

Shoes

Coats The list of essential products goes on forever. Andrew Cuomo is leading New York State into doing a great injustice to its people with the fracking ban. Natural gas and oil are not just used for energy; they are also used for thousands of life sustaining products. If plastics were to be replaced by alternative materials, their lifecycle energy consumption would be increased by around 57% and greenhouse gas emissions would rise by 61%. Check out the following for even more perspective:

Pretty interesting, isn’t it? Perspective is always helpful. Too bad Andrew Cuomo has none.

UPDATE: The folks at PIOGA read this post and passed along the following excellent piece that complements our story: