Bravo Andrew

Cuomo Picks ‘Open Space’ Advocate for Environment Chief

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is receiving plaudits from environmental groups for nominating Joseph Martens as the new commissioner of New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation.


Since 1998, Mr. Martens has served as president of the Open Space Institute, a nonprofit that works largely in the northeastern United States to acquire lands for conservation and sustainable development and farming. Mr. Martens also served as deputy state secretary of energy and the environment from 1992-94, during the gubernatorial administration of Mr. Cuomo’s father, Mario.


The Gannett Web site Pressconnects.com, which focuses on news of interest to the greater Binghamton, N.Y., area, has posted what it describes as a transcript of a speech that Mr. Martens delivered last year at Union College in Schenectady in which he urges the Department of Environmental Conservation to “go slow” on fracking until the E.P.A.’s conclusions are clear.


Mr. Martens is quoted as adding: “If nothing else, it seems to me, the Department should go slow. The tragedy of the Deepwater Horizon operation in the gulf clearly demonstrated that the unexpected can and will happen. It is also clear that the gas industry has not been as candid as it should have been with regards to the potential for problems.”

With this appointment and the low-keyed inauguration - Andy is looking good.