It is telling that President Barack Obama – whose Environmental Protection Agency has spent years waging a war on the coal industry – recently approved moving forward with federal hydraulic fracturing regulations on federal lands.

The president’s solution to the matter includes regulations requiring companies drilling for oil and natural gas on federal lands to disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, a rule that takes effect in June, updating requirements for well construction as well as disposal of water and other fluids involved with the operation. The administration also put forth a rule relying on an online database that tracks the chemicals used.

President Obama’s regulations are evidence, contrary to the malarkey being propagated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, that hydraulic fracturing can be done safely. We don’t often agree with the president on matters of policy, but his decision on fracking should prompt a new review by New York officials. “I think Cuomo had more than enough research,” U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, said recently. “Obviously, the Obama administration believed they had enough scientific data to rely on the regulatory basis that would allow this to go forward safely and responsibly. I think the decision by Obama highlights what Cuomo was more focused on – the politics of the issue.”

There was also likely a pragmatic reason for the president’s new policy, too – the EPA’s longtime war on coal means the nation must get its power in new ways. The darlings of environmentalists like solar and wind still aren’t ready for major commercial use, so something must take coal’s place. For the president, the solution is more hydraulic fracturing on federal land. We don’t yet know what Cuomo’s answer will be since the federal program to reduce coal use and the state’s decision to ban fracking would seem to remove a couple of key options to provide electricity and heat for New York residents.