In an environmental victory, New York’s highest court has upheld the right of local towns and cities to ban the controversial drilling technique known as fracking. Fracking is currently barred statewide under a 2008 moratorium, but more than 75 towns have blocked it in case New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo lifts the ban. Fracking involves blasting chemicals into cracks in shale rock to extract oil and gas, a process critics warn can poison water supplies, destroy land and fuel climate change.