{"id":3881,"date":"2011-03-08T17:03:49","date_gmt":"2011-03-08T22:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/?p=3881"},"modified":"2011-03-09T20:32:16","modified_gmt":"2011-03-10T01:32:16","slug":"martens-clears-hurdle-for-top-dec-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2011\/03\/08\/martens-clears-hurdle-for-top-dec-post\/","title":{"rendered":"Martens approved for top DEC post"},"content":{"rendered":"

(NOTE:\u00a0 This update includes corrected information.)<\/p>\n

Joe Martens has been approved by the full NYS Senate, confirmed as DEC commissioner.<\/p>\n

This from the Associated Press:<\/p>\n

Martens, former head of the Open Space Institute, had been working as the DEC’s acting commissioner since January when he was nominated by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo.<\/p>\n

Martens takes over as the agency works to complete an environmental review of hydraulic fracturing to release natural gas from deep shale wells. The study is expected to be finished in June.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Martens was asked during confirmation hearings about proposals to use a more aggressive form of hydro-fracking to extract natural gas from shale rock in New York.\u00a0 This from the Elmira Star Gazette.<\/a><\/p>\n

“For over two years, we have been looking at the issue of high-volume hydraulic fracturing, and we are on a schedule to complete that sometime this summer,” Martens said. “The executive order asked us to complete it on or around June 1, and certainly that’s our goal, but we will complete it when I am 100 percent satisfied that it addresses all of the issues.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

State Senator Betty Little (R-Queensbury) backed Martens for the post, despite the fact that his organization — the Open Space Institute — played midwife to some of the biggest land deals in the Adirondacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important we have the right people in key positions to lead, especially during this time of fiscal crisis,\u201d said Senator Little in a statement. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe governor has made a great choice in selecting Joe Martens as DEC Commissioner. \u00a0I was pleased to support his nomination and I look forward to working with Joe and his staff in the months ahead on many issues. \u00a0Commissioner Martens will do well for all of New York, but I\u2019m very happy we have someone in this position so familiar with the North Country and the Adirondacks.\u201d <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Martens also heads the ORDA board of directors and has developed strong connections to local government leaders in the Park.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(NOTE:\u00a0 This update includes corrected information.) Joe Martens has been approved by the full NYS […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[22,4870,884],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3881"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3881"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3882,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3881\/revisions\/3882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}