As the East Coast recovers from a series of storms and floods that have seriously disrupted people’s lives in several states, we should reflect on the importance of community. In so many places people had to rely on each other until assistance could arrive. Whether it was downed trees, power outages, or homes lost to flash floods, we should be reminded that gratitude for being alive and helping one’s neighbor are core American values.

The budget bickering in Washington D.C., which has so divided our country, seems to focus on each emergency as an opportunity to score a political point. There is a saying that divided government is good, because it offers balance. Recently, we have seen the downside of division, which reached its nadir when one Congressional leader suggested that any assistance offered to flood and storm-ravaged communities would have to be offset by spending cuts.

Offering emergency aid to some in exchange for budget pain inflicted on others, is not only counterproductive, it is cruel. This is not the America I grew up in. Politicians, regardless of political affiliation, should want to see communities rebuilt. Yet it seems for some, the notion that government is the root of all evil justifies the tactic of taking distressed citizens hostage and using them as a bargaining chip in the political arena. I find this reality extremely troubling and frankly hard to fathom.

As I write this, we are on the verge of the commemoration of the vicious attacks on the World Trade Center. In the aftermath of that disaster, the spirit of unity and shared purpose was reinforced. The barriers that usually separate us were wiped away. What has happened to so divert us from that moment? How has the accelerating competition for material goods distorted our focus on what is truly important? And the really big question is how do we get back to a place where our connection to each other is renewed?

As a dedicated public servant, I believe that government can be used as a tool to help us realize our potential and bridge our divides. As the passage of same-sex marriage earlier this summer has demonstrated, it is still possible for public policy to transcend party politics in order to realize a greater truth.

Although the present discourse in politics can be depressing, we cannot forget that at times we are a country whose populace has a noble spirit. The overwhelming outpouring of support for one another that we demonstrate time and again in any and every crisis, makes it obvious that we hold the keys for a tomorrow that is brighter than anything we can possibly imagine today.

As America’s energy consumption continues to rise, energy companies, eager to profit off of the high price of gasoline, have markedly increased their efforts to find new sources of natural gas and oil. This search has led such companies to utilize an intensive process for extracting natural gas known as hydraulic fracturing which has grave environmental risks and is unfortunately on the cusp of being permitted in New York State. Although it is claimed that fracturing may lead to increased revenues, the environmental risks are far too great for the State to allow such activity to take place.

While the State Assembly passed a new one-year moratorium on fracturing, the Cuomo Administration did not join us. Governor Cuomo extended the temporary ban only until the conclusion of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) review process. DEC’s only major limiting recommendation was a ban within the confines of the New York City and Syracuse watersheds. The position of the DEC will undermine the collective voices of all New Yorkers who rightfully are concerned with the environmental and health impact of hydraulic fracturing anywhere in the state. Among its many flaws, DEC’s report fails to take into account the devastating impact that hydraulic fracturing has had in neighboring Pennsylvania. Furthermore, it is short-sighted as the revenues that will be created for the State of New York will only come from the amount received through permits, and this will be far less than the cost of ameliorating the situation if an accident occurs that threatens our State’s water supply.

DEC recently announced the extension of their original 60-day public testimony period to a 90-day public testimony period, before the conclusion of which no hydraulic-fracturing permits will be made available. This extension was a result of the many voices demanding a longer time frame, including a resolution passed by Community Board 1. Considering the catastrophic flood damage to communities likely to be the site of drilling, additional comment time is warranted.

While drilling for natural gas is a common process, fracking implements mixing water with a combination of sand and toxic chemicals. This “cocktail” is then injected at high pressure into shale more than a mile underground in order to fracture the rock and release the gas. In order to capture a commercially viable amount of gas from the Marcellus Shale formation, a well is drilled vertically to approximately 500 feet above the formation and then the well-bore is turned horizontal to tap all the tiny pockets and veins of gas in the shale. Each of these drilling wells requires an intensive industrial procedure; furthermore the drilling process itself uses and pollutes huge amounts of water. In fact, a single well requires between 1 million and 5 million gallons of water. About 40 percent of what’s injected into the wells is pumped back out, and it must be treated before it is discharged back into public waterways.

New York’s entrance into the fracking field finds its way via the Marcellus Shale, which is a mile-deep rock reservoir which stretches through the Appalachian Mountain Range through New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. It is estimated that this natural resource could yield 82 trillion gallons of natural gas - 4 times the current national annual output; New York State currently is the fourth largest natural gas-consuming state and uses 1,200 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year for about five percent of the United States’ demand.

There has been an ongoing outcry via the media as to the dangers of fracking particularly exemplified through its adverse effects when implemented in Pennsylvania as well as many western states, like Wyoming. Films such as “Gasland” and a peer-reviewed study published in the National Academy of Science found that families in Pennsylvania, where fracking was used, had water contaminated with methane and heavy metals.