Crowd scenes before the start of the rally. Interviews on how to get out of gas lease and legal fund in support of home rule. 600+ New Yorkers Rally in State Capitol to Voice Concerns about Fracking Toxic Chemical Exposure & Hazardous Waste Top List of Groups’ Fracking-Related Concerns (ALBANY, NY)—A broad coalition of organizations descended on the New York State Capitol today to call on elected officials to safeguard vital water resources, air quality, public health and the environment from industrial gas drilling by means of high volume hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” The groups were joined by more than 600 New Yorkers who traveled to Albany from across the state to meet with members of the State Legislature and voice concerns about the controversial drilling practice, which has poisoned drinking water and polluted air in other parts of the country. Three-time Academy Award®-nominated actress Debra Winger and Josh Fox, director of the Academy Award®-nominated documentary Gasland, spoke at the rally alongside State Senators Tony Avella, Liz Krueger and Mark Grisanti, and Assembly members William Colton, Steve Englebright, Brian Kavanagh, and Robert Sweeney. George Dunkel, Executive Director of American Academy of Pediatrics, New York Chapter; Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment; Robert Moore, Executive Director of Environmental Advocates of New York; Eric Weltman, Senior Organizer of Food and Water Watch; and David Braun, co-founder of United for Action, also spoke. Less