On December 17, New Yorkers across the state were celebrating reports that New York had banned “fracking,” the controversial, invasive method of extracting natural gas from rock formations. Environmentalists have opposed the practice for years, arguing that it pollutes the water and air.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who once seemed to favor fracking as a possible economic driver for depressed areas along the New York-Pennsylvania border, announced the ban after state health officials released a report questioning the safety of the practice.

New York is the first state with a potentially rich naturalgas supply to ban fracking.