We must not let gas firms decide for us By Lisa Wright

We must not let gas firms decide for us. Ithaca Journal

By Lisa Wright • October 5, 2010, 12:00 am

The gas industry, in concert with the Obama
administration, is working hard to make gas into not
merely a bridge fuel, but a worldwide replacement
fossil fuel for decades to come.

I object to what is fast becoming a multinational
dominance of American mineral rights, and my First
Amendment right to free speech is being seriously
threatened by individuals and big government
agencies who don’t want me to object.

The landowner coalitions, many who formed in
reaction to the snake-oil salesmen tactics of oil and
gas industry landmen, are now turning against their
brothers and sisters in an unholy alliance with the
devil. Sophisticated industry PR people from
Washington, D.C., feed inflammatory information, e-
mails and fliers to these local coalitions, goading
them to perceive their friends and neighbors as the
enemy.

New Yorkers need a sensible statewide plan that
supports a healthy economic future for our farms
and natural areas. With the opportunity afforded us
by the current worldwide gas glut, New York should
be exploring energy and economic initiatives that
support local businesses and farms, and that won’t
drain and injure our water resources.

But we just cannot move forward in a political
environment where the dialogue is continually
reduced to a simplistic narrative of gas industry
hype and “trust me” rhetoric. The people of this
state, not the multinational corporations, must claim
and own this dialogue.

Many New York pro-drillers are tempted by the easy
money and promised royalties, and they avert their
eyes from the plight of our abused neighbors in
Dimock, Pa. Local governments are only now wising
up and realizing that there will be no free lunch.
Someone will have to pay for the infrastructure,
treatment and cleanup costs, and it won’t be the
heavily subsidized, wealthy multinational gas
companies. It will be little you and me.

Right now, the gas corporations and the Obama administration do not much care about our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. President Barack Obama’s big government, just like President George W. Bush’s big government, is now in the business of supporting one industry over the interests of we the people. That can change, but only if we the people make it happen.This country, like this issue, has become dangerously polarized. It is up to us as American citizens, as New Yorkers, and as individual members of our communities to stand up for one another. We must reject highly financed and cynical attempts to divide us and, in turn, we must work much harder to reconnect with our communities. In doing that, we will then have at least a fighting chance of finding acceptable ways of resolving the difficult problems that lie before us.

Lisa Wright is a Brooktondale resident