Elected officials in New York are beginning to choose sides when it comes to the Marcellus Shale development, a plan to tap into the massive natural gas resource underneath parts of Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Many farmers and landowners are eager to take advantage of a potential financial windfall by way of land leases, signing bonuses, and gas royalties from the multi-billion dollar gas industry. Others oppose drilling because of the environmental and safety hazards it could pose to the surrounding communities.

Case in point: the man who can light his tap water on fire because mined gases are leaking into ground wells:

Groups like National Resources Defense Council, Common Cause, Earthjustice, Earthworks and the New York State Public Interest Research Group make up the over 6,000 interested parties who have petitioned Gov. Paterson of New York to put a hold on the drilling development to re-consider the environmental and safety impact on New York residents. The question is, how much effect can concerned citizens and elected officials have when it comes to taking on Big Gas? To learn more about this issue and how you can help, click here.