As Election Day draws nearer, polls show the Green Party candidate for governor of New York with higher-than-expected support. Today, Howie Hawkins discussed hydrofracking and the Common Core.
The Green Party's Howie Hawkins spoke to reporters at length about one the key planks of his political platform: making sure hyrdrofracking never sees light of day in New York. "Astorino's obviously for it. Cuomo's sittin' on the fence, waiting for the election to be over."
Republican challenger Rob Astorino, the Westchester County Executive, supports fracking. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said he continues to reserve judgment. The state has been under a de facto fracking moratorium for all of the Democrat’s term, with open-ended health impact and environmental studies yet to be presented. "I have said, I want the science to dictate, not the politics or the emotion. And we're waiting on a report. And when we get the report we'll make the decision."
Proponents say claim gas drilling is safe, affordable and clean. They join Cuomo in continuing a vigil waiting for "proof" that fracking harms the environment. Hawkins explained he had recently toured natural gas drilling sites in northeastern Pennsylvania — and came back with the sense that the industry is "winging it" in the Keystone State. "Not really sticking with safety requirements, and the consequences were devastating... We drove down two long country roads where every house seems to be contaminated. I talked to a number of those people. It just ruined their homes. Ruined their water, their land, they can't sell their homes. What tends to happen is the company buys them out and then just levels the home and pretends it never happened. This is what we don't need to bring to New York State."
Hawkins also visited arguably one of the year's most explosive issues: Common Core. He believes part of the key to education reform is less testing and more equitable, full funding for education. "And that whole high-stakes testing regime, which is part of Common Core, is a big drain on time in the schools as well as money to administer the program. We should let the teachers teach. Let the local teachers and parents and school boards, the people who care most about their local schoolchildren, make the decisions about standards, curriculum and assessments."
Cuomo had supported early adoption of Common Core, then backed off a bit, agreeing to delay the effects of related tests for another couple of years. Astorino has been dead-set against the adoption of the federal standards, telling public radio back in April: "So now we’ve little mini lab mice, our kids, who are going into this huge untested experiment. It’s going to be the mother of all unfunded mandates, because we’re going to have to pay for it. So it's expensive, and experimental."
Hawkins has all but admitted his candidacy is about making a statement, and polling suggests it’s not impossible he could capture 10 percent of the vote, buoyed by the same disenchanted left that gave Zephyr Teachout a boost in the Democratic primary.
Although not mentioned on the call, Hawkins also favors raising New York's minimum wage to $15 an hour.
