Opinions
Update on Event:
...More than 125 activists gathered from all over New York. We heard many moving speakers, including, but not limited to: Sandra Steingraber, Bob Boyle, Wes Gillingham, Legislative Representatives Barbara Lifton, Donna Lupardo, Liz Krueger, Brian Kavanagh, Danny O'Donnell, Michelle Schimel, Deborah Glick, Aileen Gunther and Tom Abinati as well as Catherine Hughes and Gene Stilp, an emissary from Pennsylvania's beleaguered gas fields, among notable others.
After the Rally, the crowd snaked from the "Well" in the Legislative Office Building all the way to the Capitol next to the Hall of Governors where Governor Cuomo's office is located. As we ascended the staircase, our chant of "NO FRACKING WAY" began to reverberate off the stone walls.
By prior agreement with highly accommodating New York State Troopers, the crowd gathered in the beautiful and historic War Room. The high-volume chant went on and on and on for nearly an hour, maybe longer. The floor in the War Room was shaking. People, including at least one minister, were dancing and banging on anything that could make noise. It was totally unbelievable. Albany was buzzing today at the performance of the "leather lung choir!!!" Rock on.
Check out "War Room protest: ‘No fracking way’" a video posted by the Albany Times Union. It will knock you on your butt.
See also: Nancy Hickling. "Local Protesters Travel To Albany To Rally Against Hydrofracking." WBNG News. 2011-03-24.
See also: Erin Connolly. "Rally to expand hydrofracking impact study." TWEAN news channel of Albany: Capital Region YNN. 2011-03-25.
...Commissioner Martens acknowledged that we had presented new data that had not been incorporated into the woefully deficient originally draft SGEIS or the Executive Order proceeding. He was entirely gracious and said he was still in the process of being briefed about the many aspects of revising the Draft SGEIS per Executive Order No. 41. He said no decision would be made in our meeting about allowing public comment regarding how DEC should go about revising the Draft SGEIS. He offered to meet again with the group.
Original Report. 2011-03-22
We are Full Steam Ahead for a Noon Rally this Thursday, March 24, 2011 at the New York State Capitol (West Capitol Park, Swan Street Steps) requesting Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to expand the scope of the Marcellus Shale draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS).
Update
Neither rain nor snow nor sleet will keep us from our momentous Rally tomorrow in Albany to request Governor Cuomo to expand the scope of the Marcellus Shale draft SGEIS.
Since inclement weather is predicted, we are moving our Rally indoors. Please gather at 12:00 Noon in the "Well" of the Legislative Office Building. See map below. Just walk into the LOB from the Concourse of the Empire State Plaza. The Well is just past the elevators. You can't miss it.
This large cavernous space will showcase our event to Legislators, staff and lobbyists. It is ideal for our purposes. Thank you, Assemblywoman Lifton, for all your assistance on our behalf.
In addition to the highly notable individuals and groups I mentioned yesterday, we will be joined by Shaleshock, Committee to Protect the Finger Lakes, Cortland Drilling Awareness Coalition, Tompkins County Legislator Pam Mackesey and Catherine Hughes of New York City Community Board One, which passed a major resolution last evening in support of expanding the scope of the draft SGEIS.
I am pleased to let you know we will be joined by State Legislators, physicians concerned about gas drilling threats to public health, NYPIRG, NYRAD, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Sierra Club: Atlantic Chapter, acclaimed ecologist, Sandra Steingraber, and legendary environmental activist and author, Robert H. Boyle, who revealed GE's contaminated the Hudson River with PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).
Most importantly, grassroots activists and groups will be gathering at the Capitol from all over New York...
Thank you so much for your strong support.
See: New York State Assembly Passes Moratorium on Hydrofracking | Governor Vetoes Bill.
See: Leaked EPA Documents Expose Decades-Old Effort to Hide Dangers of Natural Gas Extraction.
Minnesota based Blog by Shelly Thomas. Lively, entertaining, with well organized links, videos, photos. Covers UK, Canadian, international and U.S. issues. Updated regularly since April 2008.
Futurism Now is about the energy, challenges, and green jobs of the future. There are big changes coming and Futurism Now attempts to find the news and information people will need to adapt to their changing lifestyles.
See: Take the Tar Sands Pledge of Resistance
“We are in a crisis situation. In order to bring global CO2 back to the safe zone, we need a global shift now,” writes Beyond Talk. “These and other tar sands operations amount to the single-most destructive and unsustainable project on earth. (See this brief H2oil segment for an excellent introduction.)”
See: H2Oil: An Explanation of the Tar Sands in Alberta
Example Feed from 10/3/2010:
- Worst Climate Change Video Ever Made
- Activists Vow to End Mountaintop Removal
- The End of the World As We Know It
- More Downsides to Natural Gas
- Fighting Big Coal With Some Success
- UN Urges Governments to Build a Climate Change Foundation
- H2Oil: An Explanation of the Tar Sands in Alberta
- Recent Climate and Politics News
- Eco Study and Inspiration
- Pacific Walrus Threatened by Global Warming
Statement by the National Council of Churches of Christ (2008). A Call for Faithful Stewardship of God’s Creation: Reflections on Natural Gas Drilling and Leasing. National Council of Churches in Christ. Published by Beach Lake United Methodist Church, Beach Lake, PA.
Beach Lake United Methodist Church. Located in Beach Lake, Pennsylvania, near the New York Catskills.
"Biblical and theological considerations are commended to everyone, whether or not they have been approached about a gas lease and regardless of whether they have signed one. People are encouraged to think as broadly as possible and learn all they can in order to make the best possible decisions in the future.
Purpose: To involve church members, wherever in the United States gas drilling is operative or proposed, in biblical and theological dialogue, in order to equip and motivate them to engage in discussions and decisions in their respective communities."
William M. Foster / Auburn AuburnPub.com | Posted: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 3:00 am | (4) Comments
“Call your legislators today and say ‘absolutely not.’ No toxic dump wells in the Finger Lakes!”
William M. Foster
Auburn
Whether you are for it or against it, hydrofracking will significantly alter our way of life, and it’s possible that Gov. Andrew Cuomo will make the decision to the end the current moratorium on June 1. Write or phone — tell him no.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation estimates that natural gas drilling companies will drill 71,000 wells along the southern border of the state from Binghamton to Buffalo and up into the Finger Lakes. To frack one well, it takes on average 4 million gallons of water and 250,000 pounds of chemicals. Each well will be fracked on average six times, which in essence means 24 million gallons of water and 1.5 million pounds of chemicals. When you multiply that by 71,000 wells, the numbers are staggering.
Compounding the issue, gas drilling companies are not required to disclose what they use in the fracking fluids nor are they required to follow any of the federal environmental laws put in place to protect public health and our drinking water.
In Pennsylvania, where hydrofracking is in full swing, state regulators have issued more than 1,400 serious violations in the past two years, including contamination of drinking water and chemical spills.
There’s no reason to doubt the same problems will occur here. Are we expecting our first responders to show up to well blowouts and truck accidents without full knowledge of the hazardous materials involved?
We should all be aware that these companies will be trying to site 10,000 feet deep injection wells to “dump” their toxic waste in just as they have done in other states. It’s too expensive for them to do it any other way. We subsidize them by getting to keep their toxic waste.
Call your legislators today and say “absolutely not.” No toxic dump wells in the Finger Lakes!
Call your state and local legislators and tell them to stop this from happening — now.
In closing, I have used the DEC SGEIS report on hydrofracking as a guide. My family has lived in this community for more than 100 years but I’m not sure that living here with these changes is possible.
William M. Foster
Auburn
Foster is a former member of the Auburn City Council
See: Natural Gas Firms Cited for "Significant Non-Compliance With Auburn Sewer Use Law".
Update
See: Christopher Caskey. "Rally planned against gas well water in Auburn." The Citizen. 2011-05-26.
See: Scott Rapp. "Auburn group hopes protest sways city to stop taking wastewater from natural gas drilling." The Post-Standard. 2011-05-29.
See: Editorial. "Our View: Moratorium, study needed on wastewater." The Citizen. 2011-05-29.
"Read and weep. Here is part of the new brochure: Endless Mountains Visitors Guide. Imagine trying to make a gas well a wonderful and fascinating thing to visit in Pennsylvania. It is almost like trying to make visiting a ward in a VA hospital something to look forward to.
Come see the death and destruction here in Pennsylvania. It will be fascinating. Watch the gas drillers as they work diligently to ruin everything we treasure here in Pennsylvania. Read on.........(from the Endless Mountains Visitors Guide)"
Playing Dirty
If you have not seen Gasland, take some time to watch it. You can view it on HBO, or purchase from Amazon. The trailer can be seen here: Gasland Trailer.
Now this movie has made its way to the Oscars and as exciting as that is, the Natural Gas Industry is now in full attack form doing whatever it takes to tear this nomination apart.
This works because people that see this movie are touched. They are touched because they have been directly affected by hydraulic fracturing or they want to be a voice for those that have been and don’t want to become a silent statistic as well.
Energy In Depth, a group sponsored by a coalition of natural gas companies, sent a letter to the Academy asking that Gasland — a film about a controversial mining technique called hydro-fracking — be removed from the Documentary Feature category.
It is a good thing that they are reacting so publicly, as they are bringing far more attention to the film and the issue at hand. Josh issued an open letter to the media today, responding to the natural gas industries attempt to slam Gasland. You can read Josh’s letter here on in our Facebook Notes “An Open Letter from Josh Fox.”
Join our communities on Twitter & Facebook and become apart of this conversation, it is one of the most important that you will have.
Azita Ardakani {Founder of Lovesocial}
Edit-Neil Zusman, 2011-02-10
See: Energy in Depth | Mixplex
See: Gasland - The Debate
Gasland is going a long way in spreading public awareness about gas drilling and the risks it poses on human and environmental health. Nationwide response to the film has been overwhelmingly positive. The Oil and Gas Industry's response: not so enthusiastic.
"Energy-In-Depth" is a PR Firm/Lobbying Group funded by the American Petroleum Institute. They are putting a misleading spin on information in Gasland to soothe and silence public curiosity about gas drilling.
The work of Energy-In-Depth lacks journalistic credibility and educated opinion. It's nothing short of an attack on truth. For public interest, we’ve prepared a response to their self-serving claims on gas drilling. Click here to learn more and pass along to friends.
See "Let's Talk About Cleavage", Energy In Depth. August 11, 2010.
Take Action. Adapt the film screening party to ongoing community benefits and information sharing. Download: Gasland HouseParty Guide (PDF) 2010-06-21
See: Mike Hale. NYT Review, "The Costs of Natural Gas, Including Flaming Water".
See: PBS Interview with Josh Fox, March 26, 2010.
See: the Water Portal page on SourceWatch with an excellent summary of the Gasland phenomenon. Robert Koehler of Variety referred to the film as “one of the most effective and expressive environmental films of recent years… "GasLand" may become to the dangers of natural gas drilling what Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" was to DDT.”
See: Josh Fox Interview with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.
Arkansas based blog on Facebook.
All members of the International Brotherhood of Magicians "and gas drillers" agree to:
1) Oppose the willful exposure to the public of any principles of the Art of Magic, or the methods employed in any magic effect or illusion.
First rule in the magicians code. Never reveal your secrets.
Last week there was sort of a vote at AOGC on something they called Rule B19. Arkansas joined Wyoming in becoming one of 2 states that required full disclosure of what frac fluid contains. It was in all the papers. Hooray!
Closer examination revealed that it really wasn't a rule at all, but instead a really a clever bit of slight of hand. It was a magic trick by AOGC to allow the companies to say they were doing something, without really having to do anything at all.
Rule B19 was supposed to cause the companies involved in hydraulic fracturing to completely disclose every chemical involved in the process. We were told by AOGC director Larry Bengal:
"We will tell you what's in the cake, but not teach you how to bake the cake."
See: Arkansans for Gas Drilling Accountability. Dec. 20, 2010. "The SHAM EXPOSED! Log Cabin Democrat and Times Record Expose Last Minute Loophole in AOGC's Rule B-19".
The tar sands in Alberta are so big they can be seen from space...
H2Oil is a documentary, now on DVD.
“In the vast, pristine forests of Western Canada, the ‘war for water’ has already begun…
Thanks to Alberta’s Athabasca oil sands, Canada is now the biggest oil supplier to the United States. A controversial billion-dollar industry is heavily invested in extracting crude from the tarry sands through a process so toxic it has become an international cause for concern. Four barrels of glacier-fed spring water are used to process each barrel of oil, then are dumped, laden with carcinogens, into leaky tailings ponds so huge they can be seen from space.
Downstream, the people of Fort Chipewyan are already paying the price for what will be one of the largest industrial projects in history. When a local doctor raises the alarm about clusters of rare cancers, evidence mounts for industry and government cover-ups. In a time when wars are fought over oil and a crisis looms over access to clean fresh water, which resource is more precious? And what price are we willing to pay? — Gisèle Gordon.”
And now they want to do this in Utah, though on a smaller scale:
A plan to strip-mine oil sands crude on U.S. land for the first time in northeastern Utah is facing legal challenge.
Through a legal appeal, a pair of local environmental groups are working to overturn a decision earlier this month by John Baza, director of the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining (UDOGM). He upheld a permit approval for a 62-acre mine in the remote Uinta Basin of the Colorado Plateau.
Should the legal option fail, the groups said they are determined to block the project – by whatever “peaceful” means...
See: The End of the World As We Know It? The rise of the post-carbon era
"Who the Heck is Calvin Tillman?"
"...Texas allows public domain seizure for pipelines. The many pipelines feeding the compressors cross private property rendering it unfit for future development.
The cumulative effect of the gas industry on the residents and their property values has caused Calvin, their mayor, to refer to Dish as a Sacrifice Zone.
Pennsylvania based blog. Includes many links and articles.
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See: Dish Mayor Calvin Tilman Testifies at Railroad Commission - Oil and Gas Lawyer Blog.
