ALBANY (AP) – The New York Assembly has approved a temporary ban on hydraulic fracturing.

The measure would ban hydraulic fracturing in deep, horizontal natural gas wells until May 15, 2011. It’s meant to allow more time for the Department of Environmental Conservation to finish its review and new permitting guidelines.

The moratorium has already passed in the state Senate and now goes to Gov. David Paterson. The governor said last week that opponents of the drilling to reach deep, lucrative gas deposits raised enough of an argument “to thwart us from going forward at this time.”

Central New York Landowners Coalition President Brian Conover said this morning that the moratorium is “toothless” and “politically motivated.”

“Since the DEC has not even released its Supplemental Generic Impact Statement, they can’t drill now anyway! This just proves that the moratorium is politically based not scientifically based,” he said.