Scores of moviegoers have seen the trailer for “Promised Land,” an upcoming Matt Damon film about a gas company’s quest to buy drilling rights in a rural town.

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both talk up American energy independence and natural gas drilling on the campaign trail. What originally was a regional environmental issue is turning into a national controversy.

Depending on your view of hydrofracking, you’re either a greedy, groundwater-poisoning plutocrat or a tree-hugging, business-hating environmentalist.

Like most political debates, we see two sides trying to win an argument rather than providing a vision to solve a problem.

Gas drilling would bring an economic boost to our region desperate for jobs and new residents. Hydrofracking deserves to be re-examined from a new perspective, without them polemics or alarmists on either side. Our ultimate goal should be to allow large-scale gas drilling in the state, with government working with gas companies to address environmental concerns.

The gas drilling industry would create jobs and funnel millions into our region’s economy. Just saying “no” because of preconceived notions is an irresponsible policy.

Hydraulic fracturing — known as “hydrofracking” — uses a pressurized mixture of water and chemicals to blast through rock underground. In 2010, the New York State Assembly put a moratorium on the controversial practice, until more environmental studies could be completed.

Opponents claim that hydrofracking fluids contain harsh chemicals that will pollute the environment near drilling areas. Supporters say negative environmental effects are historically rare and that gas drilling would bring substantial economic activity to the region.

New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation has so far proved unable to lead from its bureaucratic position and has been opaque in its policy rationale and research activities.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, treading carefully in anticipation of a 2016 presidential run, has deferred to local governments and the DEC on hydrofracking issues. Cuomo recently bowed to environmental groups and commissioned a new study on hydrofracking’s effect on public health. This new study will again delay drilling companies in setting up shop in the state.

Leadership is what’s missing.

Our officials should work with gas companies to develop the industry in New York. One of the worries with hydrofracking relates to the enormous amount of chemical wastewater that’s a byproduct of drilling sites. There’s only one water treatment facility in the state that can handle the wastewater, so much of it would have to be trucked out of state if high-volume drilling took place.

This is where a public-private solution makes sense. For example, governments can cut through red tape and give incentives to build wastewater treatment centers locally. The wastewater is treated safely and the gas companies don’t spend resources transporting millions of gallons of chemicals across state lines.

It’s not caving to gas companies’ every demand. It’s solving a problem.

Support for hydrofracking is at its highest level in months, according to Siena College polls. Some 42 percent of New York voters support hydrofracking moving forward in parts of upstate, while 36 percent oppose it.

With development in the deeper — and possibly richer — Utica Shale still years away, natural gas drilling with be a mainstay in Upstate New York for some time. It’s a topic that largely pushes discussion into impassioned debate, not impassioned problem solving, despite its economic potential in our region and beyond.

Jared Kraham is a senior political science and broadcast journalism major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at jmkraham@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @JaredKraham.

Published on November 4, 2012 at 2:05 pm