"Stimulating meaningful thought & debate in Sullivan County without retribution"
Fracking in Sullivan County: Let’s call it what it is and examine the right issues
There is plenty of room for compromise enabling capitalism to flourish, yet still protect our environment
by Ben Math
Last week, Ruby Pixman wrote an article"Fracking In Sullivan County: Governments Can, And Should Tell You It's Not Acceptable" where he argued that both our country's history and de facto status as a "socialist state" justifies the banning of fracking by local town governments. '
He's wrong. Sullivan County landowners have right to be infuriated about new, developing fracking regulations being promulgated at the town level of government.
America is unique in the world for one simple reason. Our forefathers attempted to create a system where capitalism and democracy could coexist.
In their humility they began our constitution with the words "We the people, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity..."
These courageous men had studied the various forms of government that had existed over the previous millennia and boldly decided America would have a capitalistic economy and a democracy for governance.
They knew it would not be perfect, but it would be more perfect than anything in history.
Socialism was certainly not what our founders envisioned for their posterity.
The words in the constitution are not put into proper context unless we first read the Declaration of Independence which we should all do at least once a year to remind us from whence we came.
It is the parallels to the conditions identified in our Declaration of Independencethat infuriate Sullivan County land owners regarding Fracking.
Yes, our governments at the town, county, state, and federal levels have many parallels to the King of England in 1776 and Sullivan County residents should be outraged.
That is not to say we should unleash fracking in our farmlands without regard to its potential impact on our neighbors.
But there is plenty of room for compromise enabling capitalism to flourish, yet still protect our environment.
In fact, if we are smart about it we could actually improve the environment and create wealth in Sullivan County at the same time.
That means the rhetoric and misinformation perpetuated by both anti-frackers and pro-frackers must to be totally dismissed and we must turn away from the lobbyists behind those positions.
For starters perhaps those people out there with No Fracking signs posted all over the county should add a line at the bottom "Support your Foreign Terrorist".
Fracking is a relatively new process and industry is still learning more about it every time they drill another well.
I'm glad there has been as much fracking activity around the US as there has before it turned its eye on Sullivan County. There have been errors in judgment by the fracking industry and the permitting agencies.
History has already shown Fracking if done without proper constraints can seriously impact the environment and individual landowners.
So what will we do within the limits of our democracy to prepare for it so it is mutually beneficial on all fronts?
History has already shown Fracking if done without proper constraints can seriously impact the environment and individual landowners.
However, history has also shown Fracking can be accomplished with only positive impacts on the environment.
Why are some wells a disaster while others a blessing? This is the issue we should be collectively focusing on.
So what will we do within the limits of our democracy to prepare for it so it is promotes the general welfare of the citizens of Sullivan County while preserving or enhancing our environment?
People in Sullivan County are so busy fighting over it they have not spent the time needed to understand what they can gain from it and how they can reasonably regulate it.
Rest assured, we will not stop it. It’s capitalism in one of its most powerful forms.
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I bet if these farmers were able to lease their land to natural gas drillers they would buy new equipment and make their farms great once again. Farming will be much better when you have some money in the bank to invest in and not have to worry about who is going to foreclose on the farm or become tax delinquent.
ReplyDeleteSeems the well to do have spread a lot of misinformation about Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing. It has been truly demonized by some well off actors and their HBO funded friends. These people could care less about the local farmer as long as they can go and not have any interruptions during their time between movie making and vacations. They use twitter and spread 200,000 thousand lies in a second while those who know better but do not have the notoriety might get 100 factual tweets out.
For those of us who know that this state has been lolly gagging with peoples financial futures while playing politics to the big shots and so called environmental groups. I asked one guy what makes him an environmentalist?? He said “I am a fly fishermen" There you have it. Still drinks water for bottles, drives a car, but lives at home with mom. Never owned anything but he can choose how we lose our shirts here in New York.
Others have been barely making a living working to the bone and this year is going to be difficult already with all the rain hay is not drying properly to start with. No one can really predict the weather long term and we can only hope things even out for the rest of the growing season. It would sure be nice to know every landowner would be getting a fat lease signing check my friends in Susquehanna and Bradford counties received between $4500.00 and $5500.00 an acre. Their wells were producing and the average royalty checks where between $10.00 and $20.00 per acre. They also are drinking their own water their live stock is not sick, and they actually get to go on vacations.
There is nothing wrong with becoming Rich it is the American dream God blessed us with the Marcellus and Utica Shale under our land we were fortunate enough to own a piece of that it is not a crime to become wealthy. For those who do not have the land they may not be so happy but it’s not our problem. North Dakota has made more Millionaires in a year then anywhere the last couple of years. Pa is not far behind. New York with its high profile citizens and politicians has done nothing. Cuomo capped the highest property taxes in the land. (Did nothing to lower them first) He blamed a utility company for his failings during Super Storm Sandy; He instituted an unconstitutional gun law when crime rates were at the lowest in decades. Now he has been stalling for years on issuing drilling permits. This state spent well over $40,000.000 dollars producing and completing the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program (SGEIS)
ReplyDeleteI have to say it is seven hundred and thirty six pages long and I would wager most if not none of the anti gas people as well as the pro gas people read this. I would also wager that those towns and villages who put bans or moratoriums on Natural Gas Drilling Never read it as well. This should be a crime in itself banning something that has such an extensive report all the issues that could happen to the environment and what the state regulations will do the make sure they do not happen with very specific base line science. Addressing every issue. Most people think that the buffer area around the states reservoirs are because the fracking will contaminate the water somehow the fracking fluid will migrate up thousands of feet in the watershed. Not possible for reasons cited in the report. The reason is the NY city water system has no filtration to stop run off which would occur when pipe lines and roads are built to the well sites. This run off will have a negative effect. That is what the buffer is all about.
The Radiation scare another falsely spread misinformation. Its addresses exactly where drilling samples were collected, what types of Geiger counters where used and who calibrated them. With the conclusion no threat from radiation.
The open pit with fracking fluids addresses. New York will only use Closed Loop systems using containers not pits.
Water well testing prior to well drilling as well as during and after. This way when someone hands a Certain So called Director of Documentaries a Jar of dirty water it would have been tested prior to the drilling and the So Called documentary would never have become the leader of misinformation.
The SGEIS is available for down load online get it read it and tell you legislature it’s time to get this show on the road and get New York back to work, as well as being a producing state instead of a consuming state.
You environmentalist and well to do Hollywood types think long and hard about how you portray things because you are not the ones who are not making ends meet its the farmers and local people who in some cases you scared needlessly and cost them their homes and farms.
NIMBY (Not in my backyard) hurts thousands of people with your selfishness. Bananas (build absolutely nothing anywhere never again) these people have no solutions just rocks to throw if they did they would be at the patent office producing our next totally green energy. Until then we have Natural Gas.
Vito Randazzo
Landowner born and raised in New York