Just as New York State seemed ready to allow drilling upstate to extract a rich supply of natural gas, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a delay. Officials will now take another look at the potential health risks of hydraulic fracturing — a technique for extracting natural gas from deep shale formations, like the Marcellus Shale that lies beneath the states’s southern tier. Such caution makes sense, especially when approval of full-scale drilling could mean tens of thousands of gas rigs dotting the landscape over the next 30 years. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/06/opinion/a-checkup-for-natural-gas-in-new-york.html?emc=eta1