OtegoNY.com

Here is a short out-take of a very good presentation that was given at the TOMPKINS COUNTY COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS . It concerns what options towns and municipalities have concerning legal issues related to the extraction of natural gas.

(out-take not up yet – check out the full audio below)

March 30, 2009 presentation to municipal officials on issues related to the extraction of natural gas from Marcellus Shale, by Kimberly Shaw Rea, Esq. and Mark P. Millspaugh, P.E.

Listen to the audio of the full meeting of  legal issues related to the extraction of natural gas (a bit over an hour long, 30 MB) 

Watch the video of the full meeting of  legal issues related to the extraction of natural gas (a bit over an hour long, 208 MB)

CDOG (Chenango Deleware Otsego Gas) has an absolutely brilliant resource page at http://un-naturalgas.org/organizers.htm

Check it out and find resources to help people understand the mistake they are making by signing a gas lease.

Anyone fortunate enough to be able to remember Walt Kelly’s Pogo Possum cartoons will know this quote well:

We have met the enemy, and he is us.

The history of the quote is pretty cool. It was first used on an Earth Day poster in 1970. Below are two versions of the original poster. I couldn’t find a better graphic of it online, but I think, with a little work, it could be used on websites, protest signs, etc. 

Be careful, because the quote is a double-edged sword ( a tool Kelly was great at using.) 

Sometimes we are our own enemies. And I don’t me “we” as in “them.” Sometimes the infighting within our ranks holds us back. 

I’m not going to harp on this, because those who can, already know what I mean, and those who don’t know will never be convinced by facts or logic. 

So let’s work on fighting “them” instead. 

It might be nice to use these posters on Earth Day again, although I’m sure people do that every year.

The first two are versions of the 1970 Earth Day Poster. 

Pogo 1970 Earth Day Poster

Pogo 1970 Earth Day Poster

This one is from the 1971 Earth Day poster:

Pogo 1971 Earth Day poster

My take on the issue:

We have met the enemy, and he is us.

Want to know more about Pogo, the quotation, and the poster? Check out these sites:

http://www.igopogo.com/final_authority.htm  ZEROING IN ON THOSE POLLUTERS: WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS US, By Walt Kelly.

http://www.igopogo.com/we_have_met.htm From the foreword to The Pogo Papers, Copyright 1952-53

This is one amazing video. Believe it or not, Fox News (Faux News?) covered a story that reflects negatively on a predatory industry.

Check out the story about the woman in Colorado who can light her water faucet.

I don’t know how anyone can be informed at all about this issue and not see what a horrible scam the gas-leases are. They cannot be “mitigated” by coalitions. They are just plain bad. 

Resist them, don’t collaborate.

This graphic is from an Idea thought up by Megan Byrnes. I think it says it as well as anything else.