So, You Think The "Permitorium" In the Gulf is Bad --

The ban on fracking natural gas wells is still in effect in New York State.

They banned it three years ago:

New York put a hold on horizontal drilling three years ago while it conducts an environmental study to find safe ways of using the techniques that are in use elsewhere.

It turns out the issue of where to put the waste water is a much bigger problem. Fracking is done with fresh water, and waste water cannot be used. 

No doubt at the end of the multi-year study in New York State (three years and counting), the authors will come to the same conclusion (that the waste water is the problem) and a new study will be commissioned. As the world turns.

Again, this tells me that "we" have not reached the tipping point in how much "we" are willing to spend on imported oil. 

I noted earlier that in President Obama's energy security speech this past week, he said that every $10 increase in a barrel of oil translates to an increase of 25 cents/gallon at the pump. The individual who wrote that line, and the individual who spoke that line, clearly feel that Americans and the American economy can handle another 25 cents/gallon. That's why folks in Washington and pundits on television don't seem anxious about the price of oil right now.