Poll: New Yorkers Oppose Fracking By Narrow Margin

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (AP) - A poll suggests New York voter sentiment has shifted from support of shale gas drilling to opposition by a narrow margin.

The poll released Thursday by Siena Research Institute says 44 percent of voters surveyed opposed the Department of Environmental Conservation lifting a 4 1/2-year-old ban on gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing, or ``fracking,'' while 40 percent favored lifting the ban. Upstate voters opposed fracking, 51-38 percent.

Last month, the Siena poll found voters statewide narrowly supported fracking, 42-36 percent.

Siena pollster Steven Greenberg called the issue a ``political land mine'' for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as neither supporters nor opponents have succeeded in getting a majority of voters to their position.

The telephone poll conducted Jan. 10-15 surveyed 676 registered voters and has a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.

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