Like Neville Chamberlain, who notoriously favored “appeasement” of Hitler, and let him grow before he tried to swallow all of Europe, Pickens is trying to con us that some cockamamie scheme is “Peace (or ‘energy independence’) in our time.”

Band-aid plans, and the blind acceptance that they will help us in the long run, only make the long run longer and harder. “Cover your ass,” is a poor substitute for, “Stand up and fight back.”

You’ll probably be reading more analogies to Neville Chamberlain, as there seems to be a fatalistic, “well, they’re coming anyway, might as well appease them” attitude among some who would like to frighten landowners for their own reasons.

T Boone Pickens is only trying to use us.

This is from CDOG:

A) His only agenda is his own profit – but he’s pretty damn slick at making it look otherwise, isn’t he?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70HFEHB6dag

B) The “Energy Plan” is his ticket to increasing demand for a dirty fuel that ruins lives everywhere it’s extracted, and in fact will NOT be used for energy independence.  A great deal of it is slated for export.  I’m talking about natural gas, or as we like to call it, UN-natural shale gas.   The process of hydraulic fracturing, which pollutes vast amounts of precious water across the nation and leaves dead zones and sick  people in its wake, is used to get natural gas out of tight shales.   We need clean water, clean air, healthy cropland and healthy people much more than we need a few years’ worth of a dirty hydrocarbon fuel.

Want to know more?  Visit:

• 
http://un-naturalgas.org/weblog/?cat=107


• http://www.journeyoftheforsaken.com/fracpage.htm


• http://www.journeyoftheforsaken.com/whatyouneedtoknow.htm


• http://www.journeyoftheforsaken.com/consortiumofthefraced.htm


• http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/home.php


• http://www.earthworksaction.org/oil_and_gas.cfm
  

Don’t let Pickens “aw, shucks” demeanor fool you. Remember what happened the last time someone fooled us with that?

Local citizens concerned about the consequences of proposed
widespread development of the natural gas industry in Otsego County will
present a series of forums open to the public in Cherry Valley, Cooperstown,
and Oneonta in mid-March entitled: “How the Dangers of Gas Drilling Affect
You.” The forums are sponsored by Sustainable Otsego.

Panelists will include Ron Bishop, Chemistry Lecturer at SUNY Oneonta, James
Herman, Hartwick property owner, and Colleen Blacklock, Oneonta resident who
has been researching gas drilling impacts on agriculture. They will address
concerns about water quality, public health, environmental degradation, and
damage to infrastructure raised by natural gas production and distribution,
including drilling, air pollution, pipelines, and toxic waste disposal.

The public will have three opportunities to attend:

The first event in the series will be in Cherry Valley on Friday, 13 March,
at 7 pm at the Cherry Valley Old School gym, two blocks west of the traffic
light in Cherry Valley on County Route 54.

The second event will be in Cooperstown, at 2 pm on Sunday, 15 March, at
Templeton Hall, 63 Pioneer Street.

The third event will be in Oneonta on Monday, 16th March at 7 pm at St.
Mary’s Parish Center at the corner of Walnut and Elm Streets in Oneonta.

James Herman of Hartwick, a product designer/graphic artist who is looking
forward to starting a new life in Otsego County after years of living in
NYC, became concerned by the proliferation of gas leases in his
neighborhood; he underscores the greatest of the many threats it poses,
stating that “all of Otsego County’s water ways and drinking water are
threatened by the onslaught of natural gas production.”

Dr. Bishop, who has conducted extensive research into the methods of natural
gas extraction, offers a sobering summary: “Energy industry leaders, state
regulators and our elected officials depict natural gas extraction in
Central New York as needed development at worst and a patriotic duty at
best. But Otsego County residents who are troubled by the likely impacts of
NYRI and wind turbines on our quality of life haven’t seen anything yet: we
will be overwhelmed by the impacts of natural gas wells in our midst. In
spite of the smoke-and-mirrors routines of the “experts,” we’ve put together
evidence that points to a future of polluted air and water, compacted and
contaminated soil, ruined roads and diminished health — all for the
fleeting benefit of a few. Have we come so far to learn so little?”

Colleen Blacklock, a mother with young children, says “I am concerned for
the health and well being of the Oneonta community. Drilling sites with
their millions of gallons of highly toxic waste could be allowed to be
located near our reservoir and even near or in the rail-yard next to densely
populated neighborhoods. In Fort Worth Texas, citizens are now being overrun
with drill sites located downtown and in suburban neighborhoods.”

“What we offer here is the testimony of a citizens’ panel concerned with
community impacts,” said Adrian Kuzminski, moderator of Sustainable Otsego,
“not industry consultants paid to advance someone’s bottom line. Our
researchers make it plain that natural gas drilling and distribution as
proposed will have an unprecedented impact on our region. It poses serious
threats to our lakes, rivers, aquifers, public health, agriculture, air
quality, roads, landscapes, and property values. It will impose on our
communities a permanent industrial infrastructure which most people have not
even begun to imagine. Most of the benefits and profits will leave our
area. We should be looking instead to developing renewable local resources
under local control and preserving our rural way of life.”

- Adrian Kuzminski

Listen to the first words this landowner says, “This was very easy to figure out – it was a cover-up. And the DEP did nothing.”

Do they say they can? 

Of course they do. 

The story is as old as mankind. It’s called “lying.” I have no idea why people would pretend that they can protect that which they are incapable of protecting. I guess they want to protect themselves from being called “inept.” 

Here’s a story from NPR’s “Living on Earth,” from today, Feb. 20, 2009:

“…recently two scientific studies concluded there were no adverse health effects from drinking Washington DC’s tap water, even though it contained the highest level of lead ever recorded in the U.S.”

Click here to read the or listen to the full story about Washington D.C.s water pollution and how the protectors flubbed it. 

How many times do people have to see or hear that same kind of story over and over to finally realize that there is no adequate protection from health hazards once you start polluting your water and pretending you “have it under control?”

Apparently some people never get it. 

Don’t let those people lead you into the false temptation of some material gain, just because they “say it’s safe.” 

To paraphrase Upton Sinclair:

“It’s amazing how difficult it is for a man to understand something if he is promised a small fortune not to understand it.”

This is a parody of the Scottish ballad, The Rolling Hills of the Border. I was inspired by a version called, The Rolling Mills of New Joisey.

Clarification: The second to last verse does not mean to imply that anyone who leases their land is going to hell, or anything silly like that. I just mean that the gas companies will turn this area into a kind of hell.

No moral judgements here. We are neighbors, and I respect everyone’s rights.

I am responding to Dick Downey’s guest commentary on horizontal gas drilling published on Jan 17. This way of thinking is a huge mistake.

Watchdogs have great value to society, but they must have the law on their side.

Unfortunately, the laws protecting our water have been compromised. In 2004, the EPA stripped the protections of the Clean Water Act from all aspects of horizontal drilling. In September, H.R. 7231 was introduced by Diana DeGette, co-sponsored by John Salazar and Maurice Hinchey, and would have repealed the exemption for hydraulic fracturing to the Safe Drinking Water Act. This repeal would have given watchdogs some teeth.

Until this repeal can come up for a vote, there is not protection for our drinking water.

This is bound to come up for review again in the 111th Congress. Please let your congressmen know that we need to protect our drinking water supply. We are very fortunate to have great drinking water, and we should all work to keep it safe and clean.

Mike Mitchell

Otego

This article appeared as a letter to the editor of the Oneonta Daily Star newspaper on Feb. 15, 2009, and is reprinted here with the author’s permission.

It has come to my attention that there is some confusion regarding the difference between the Unatego Area Landowners Coalition and the Concerned Citizens for Otego (CCO).  I would like to take this opportunity to address this misunderstanding.

Concerned Citizens for Otego was formed with the objective of exploring the effects of future gas drilling in our community, county and state.  Our goal is to educate all citizens about the possible hazards of natural gas extraction upon our water, air, health, land values, and overall well-being of our community.  To that end, we have sponsored an informational forum (October 2008), have done much research, written letters to the editor, and started a website (www.otegony.com).  Currently, we are preparing presentations to the Otego Village and Town Boards (February 9 and 11, 2009), and are circulating a town and county petition to request the governor for a moratorium on gas drilling until all facets have been studied and deemed safe.  This is part of a larger effort to inform and educate our neighbors and fellow citizens.

It is our understanding that the various land coalitions are primarily concerned, first and foremost, with “getting the best deal” monetarily for leasing their land to the gas companies.  To the best of our knowledge, environmental impacts have a very low priority on this agenda.  The lure of enormous profit without consideration of the “real cost” of this enterprise impoverishes us all, and many of the harmful effects cannot be “undone.”  While the monetary beneficiaries of this drilling operation will have the option of moving if their land, air, or water is contaminated, the majority of us will not have this luxury.  It is imperative, therefore, to make sure that everyone is aware of the consequences of turning our community into a scarred industrial landscape.

–Carolee Byrnes, Concerned Citizens for Otego

EPA A FAILURE ON CHEMICALS, AUDIT FINDS

By Meg Kissinger of the Journal Sentinel

Warning: Chemicals in the packaging, surfaces or contents of many products may cause long-term health effects, including cancers of the breast, brain and testicles; lowered sperm counts, early puberty and other reproductive system defects; diabetes; attention deficit disorder, asthma and autism. A decade ago, the government promised to test these chemicals. It still hasn’t. The Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to assess toxic chemicals is as broken as the nation’s financial markets and needs a total overhaul, a congressional audit has found.

Read the rest of the article on the EPAs Failure to Monitor Chemicals

Can this really be news? Is there anyone who didn’t expect this?

It makes a lot of sense, and will give you a great overview of what drilling for natural gas entails, and it’s consequences. 

To download a .pdf flyer of this essay, right-click on this link and click save: Un-Natural Natural Gas Essay

Natural gas isn’t so clean, natural or green when the externalized costs are considered. Yes, gas burns cleaner in a boiler and therefore greener than oil, and way cleaner and greener than coal. However, its politicized “Energy Independence” usage is producing an un-clean net result; and the post-peak extraction process is un-natural. The rush to use natural gas as a “transition” fuel has serious negative environmental consequences. Merely relabeling dirty fossil fuel dependence to now be “green” and to represent “independence” doesn’t actually make it green, nor provide real independence. Whenever a corporate solution to an environmental problem seems remarkably green, look into it again… much more carefully. 

The Un-Clean Side: 

On a burned BTU basis, gas produces 29% less carbon dioxide than oil, and 44% less than coal. When it comes to sulfur dioxide, gas is 1,122 times cleaner than oil and 2,591 times cleaner than coal. However, natural gas only seems green, when compared to those other fossil fuels. It burns cleaner, but it is not clean. While natural gas produces a smaller amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) per joule delivered than oil or coal, gas emits a lot of GHGs too. Burning as much as possible of something producing relatively less GHGs is not the best way to reduce GHGs. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has determined that, in the absence of policies to promote low-carbon emission sources (which policies are effectively absent), by 2030 oil demand will have increased by 44% and gas demand will be approximately double what it was in 2002. CO2 emissions will consequently have then increased by 62%. So energy independence through an increased dependence on natural gas is not going to clean up the atmosphere and cool the planet. 

The Un-Natural Side:  

The gas that’s now being unconventionally extracted isn’t lying there underground in big natural pools near the earth’s surface, and it’s not easy to collect. The days of getting natural gas the way it was done back in the 19th century are over. Easily gotten old conventional supplies of gas have been declining since 1973. That’s why Halliburton developed a deep, high pressure, multiply horizontally bored and hydrofractured drilling process. It uses extreme measures to release remnants of gas, which while pervasive are locked very tightly within the actual matrix of dense stone deposits, such as shales. The Halliburton process essentially — rather like alchemy — converts stone into gas. But that’s not all it does. Those unconventional natural gas drilling sites are hazardous waste production facilities. 

Old conventional gas wells were not much different than water wells. They were simply vertical holes drilled not very deeply into the earth to tap into reservoirs of gas within cavities, or flowing through a relatively porous and permeable subsurface material. Some limited hydrofracture stimulation was done in the past to increase production in conventional gas wells. But compared with current techniques, those old wells used negligible quantities of chemicals, small quantities of water, and much less pressure. 

Unconventional shale gas drilling is something totally different. The vertical holes are drilled far deeper. The bits are then turned to bore multiple horizontal holes over great distances. A large number of hazardous chemicals are combined with enormous quantities of good fresh water. That “slick water” mixture is used to flood the drilled holes. By means of huge diesel fuel burning air compressors, it’s then pressurized up to 8,000 psi. That converts as much as a thousand times more water than traditionally used into toxic waste; while using 2 to 4 times greater pressure than any fracking done in old conventional wells. Far higher volumes of toxic fluids, and much higher pressure is used to make those fluids behave as powerful explosives to shatter stone formations that lie beneath water supplies. Those are important factors regarding the potential for unconventional drilling to contaminate water supplies, which it too often has done. 

While the post-peak conventional gas production has been in continuous decline, energy companies have ramped up their hydrofractured horizontal drilling in western states. Use of the Halliburton process has increased by more than 300% from 1990 through 2008. The gas industry has already Iraqified much of the western states. While it continues to expand extraction there, it is also now invading and occupying the more populated east. It’s moving up the Marcellus Shale Play, from West Virginia (the extraction industry friendly home of mountaintop removal), through Pennsylvania, and coming into Ohio and New York. The scale of the environmental assault is rapidly increasing. The cumulative effect of what would eventually be hundreds of thousands of hazardous waste producing natural gas well sites must be considered. 

In western states where it has been used for decades, the atrocious environmental impacts of the Halliburton process have become clearly evident in air, ground and water contamination. Effects upon plants and animals are more insidiously revealed over time. Government environmental agencies, which should protect us, have enabled industry to deny that this process has adverse health consequences, because its causative potential for harm hasn’t and isn’t being adequately studied before those agencies permit the harm to be done. As the use of that environmentally destructive process now spreads into the more densely populated eastern states, under current (reactive to economic collapse) political conditions that favor maximum extraction, its impact upon the lives and health of people will be far greater than ever before… greater both in the degree of negative health impact and greater in the number of people effected. 

Public Seduction By Obfuscation And Bribery: 

Drillers and government regulatory agencies facilitating the surge in use of the Halliburton drilling process claim that chemicals are used in insignificant quantities. They say various combinations of the many chemicals used for numerous purposes only amount to a total of about 1% of the “slick water” hydrofracking fluids used. But, while an old style conventional gas well drilling would use a few thousand gallons of water, and little to no chemicals; by contrast, an unconventional deep horizontal shale gas well uses (dependent upon various factors) between 2 and 9 million gallons of fresh water. Only 1% of the “slick water” fluid volumes being chemicals may seem insignificant, but it is 1% of truly enormous volumes. 1% of the 2 to 9 million gallons of water used per well becomes between 20,000 to 90,000 gallons of chemicals used for each well site. And all the millions of gallons of fresh water, being the 99% ingredient in ”slick water” used per well in the Halliburton process, is converted into toxic waste by the 1% of “proprietary secret” chemicals added. Then that toxic “slick water” recipe is mixed in with a lot of very nasty stuff that lies down there deep within the earth, which the hydrofracturing releases from the stone along with the gas. That nasty natural stuff like benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene; radioactive materials; hydrogen sulfide; arsenic and mercury is pumped up out of the drill holes as so called “produced water” (highly hazardous liquid/solid waste). Those contaminants are dumped into open evaporation pools used to reduce the volume of hazardous waste to be inconveniently and expensively disposed of somewhere else, other than in the air. Gas men filter into communities in advance of drilling to privately proffer lease agreements. Signing landowners get up front bonus money and promises of great riches to come from future gas production royalties. That incites a feverish greed, particularly in economically depressed areas. The possible lessors and local officials are blinded to the negative environmental and societal impacts which will accompany that money. People who warn of hazards are labeled “extremists” for being cautious. 

Bright and cheerfully optimistic TV advertisements assure viewers that gas corporations are going to bring about a wonderful energy independence for America, by using new technologies providing amazing quantities of domestic “green” energy production. They don’t mention the invasive scale of the number of well sites that will be required to achieve that; nor their expropriation from the Commons of enormous quantities of fresh water, which water is more valuable than the gas it will be squandered to get; nor the staggering amount of hazardous waste that their “new technology” produces. 

Having been fossil fuel dedicated for nearly two centuries now, the energy industry’s new and improved “green” solution is to extract as much cleaner (natural gas) fossil fuel as possible, as soon as possible, by any means possible; and to get it all profitably burned up as fast as possible. With its relentless media saturation advertising campaign, the energy industry has greenwashed its government facilitated plan to stubbornly maintain our national dependence upon fossil fuels. Natural gas is not carbon neutral. And an extraordinary increase in the extraction rate of natural gas, using the Halliburton process, will also extraordinarily increase the production of pollution from hazardous waste. That will make what was less dirty, when used less, far more dirty, when used excessively. Petroleum corporations, and the political campaign contribution purchased governments they own, are using a misinformation campaign promoting the use of natural gas for the purpose of delaying, for at least another generation, any really serious societal effort to either conserve or truly transition away from fossil fuels.  

David J. Cyr is a retired Land Surveyor who lives in the Town of Hamden, in Delaware County, NY. He is a State Committee member in the Green Party of New York State (GPNYS), and a member of the Chenango Delaware Otsego Gas Drilling  Opposition Group (CDOG). www.un-naturalgas.org

People have right to avoid drilling

As American citizens and taxpayers, we all have individual rights that must be respected. The Bill of Rights includes a number of important freedoms, such as freedom of religion, free speech and press, and the right to bear arms.

Property owners who have already leased land for natural gas drilling argue that they have the right to use their land as they want. However, I would add that no one, be it your neighbors, the oil and gas industry, or the government, should have the right to force you to lease or give up your land, either through eminent domain, or the energy industry’s compulsory integration.

Nowhere in the Bill of Rights does it say that because all of your neighbors have done one thing, such as lease, that you have to do the same. Under compulsory integration, one is placed in a catch-22. Either you lease against your will, or don’t lease, have any natural gas stolen from you, and pay a percentage to the gas company for the privilege. Alternately, the company pays you a rock-bottom fee for being a hold-out. Glad I live in the land of the free.

To me, natural gas leasing is a lot like smoking. You can smoke all you want on your own time as long as others don’t have to breathe in secondhand smoke because of your decision. You do not have the right to subject others to lung cancer. Likewise, if you drill and they pollute your land, air and water, that is your choice until it destroys other people’s land, air, water and quality of life. Remember, no man is an island. Also, remember that people have got their lawyers on speed dial and have the right to sue you and the gas company. Choose wisely.

Megan Byrnes
Otego

Right on, Megan!