Syracuse, NY – Two gubernatorial candidates came to Nottingham High School last night in order to debate hydrofracking in the central New York area.
The debate over hydrofracking is nothing new to Syracuse residents, but last night’s debate had a twist: it was set up and hosted entirely by students. The students, Leyana Dessauer and Katie Montgomery, both sixteen, invited all seven candidates for governor to the high school — unfortunately, only Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins and Libertarian party candidate Warren Redlich actually showed up.
HYDROFRACKING DEBATE from Newhouse BDJ on Vimeo.
But both said it was because of the involvement of students.
“These are the smart people, the honors people,” Hawkins said. “They’re concerned about their future, and they should be!”
Spare Attendance, Lively Debate
Only around fifty people came to hear the candidates discuss the controversial fracking issue, which involves drilling into rock in order to free up natural gas. But members of the audience appreciated hearing a logical, intelligent debate about an issue — and not a campaign event or reality show.
“I thought it was a good, open discussion where lots of good points were raised,” said Byron Hand, a retired Syracuse geology professor. “I only wish they had stayed more on topic.”
Both candidates did offer plenty of substantial thoughts on fracking, with each employing a go-to line.
“‘Drill, baby, drill,’ equals ‘spill, baby, spill’,” Hawkins said, who favors a complete moratorium on hydrofracking.
“Everybody says don’t do this, but I say, give me some alternatives,” Redlich countered.
Student Initiative
Dessauer said she created the debate in order to have an actual discourse on one important issue.
“I had a lot of people who helped me with this, like my mom and our principal, but I just think it’s a huge issue that needs to be talked about,” Dessauer said.
When asked about the sparse turnout of both candidate and citizen, Dessauer remained upbeat.
“I wanted to get a discourse going on hydrofracking and energy conservation, and I think we accomplished that,” Dessauer said.
She was assisted in hosting the debate by Montgomery. Both students plan on inviting more politicians and officials back in the future to discuss the issue further.
“Once they get elected, I guess,” Montgomery said.
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