A handful of towns located in New York’s Southern Tier think they have a better friend in Pennsylvania – and are hoping to secede.

According to reporting from WBNG-TV, 15 towns that are part of the Upstate New York Towns Association, are researching the topic. The reason? “The Southern Tier is desolate,” Conklin Town Supervisor Jim Finch, a Republican, told WBNG. “We have no jobs and no income for anybody. And the richest resource we have is in the ground.”

Conklin, who represents a community in Broome County, is referring to natural gas, extracted from the ground through the controversial process of fracking. In December, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned fracking throughout the state, citing health risks. That was a light bulb moment for officials in these small New York towns located in Broome, Delaware, Tioga and Sullivan counties.

“The day Cuomo said they’re going to ban gas drilling,” Conklin stated, was the day the secession plan got its start. The group also said New York’s high property taxes and low sales tax revenue were a turn off.

This is the second time in a matter of months that a touchy environmental issue has led to secession talk. In October, a group of South Miami politicians floated the idea that South Florida become a separate state, due to Tallahassee’s refusal to deal with global warming. In New York, it’s pro-business officials wanting to jump start the Southern Tier’s economy, despite any health or environmental risks.

But Pennsylvania may not, in the end, be the best place for sad, frack-happy New Yorkers. The state’s new Democratic governor, Tom Wolf, has already attacked fracking, banning the process in state parks and forests.





