The Marcellus Effect: Is “Environmentally Friendly Drilling” an Oxymoron?
April 4, 2011
The Marcellus Effect: Is “Environmentally Friendly Drilling” an Oxymoron?.
Tourism vs Energy Extraction
April 1, 2011
“Slam Bam, Thank You Ma’am”
Shale Gas Drilling Will Come and Go Without Regard to the Protection of our Precious State
The Facts:
• The tourism industry is critical to the long-term health and diversity of New York’s economy; it is sustainable, steady, and long-term.
• Shale gas drilling may bring a short-term boom, which will be followed by a long-term bust, with the substantial risk of contaminated water, an industrialized landscape, infrastructure destruction, and failing health.
• Gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale will gut the tourism industry in treasured areas, including the Catskills, the Finger Lakes, and surrounding areas.
• Water contamination may destroy our world-renowned trout streams — no more anglers.
• Water and land pollution may dramatically reduce our wild game populations – no more hunters.
• An industrialized landscape will destroy natural beauty – no more bird watchers, autumn leaf peepers, cross country skiers, hikers, kayakers, antique shoppers, second home market.
• Water and land contamination may destroy our organic farms, our vineyards and our new growth industry, agri-tourism.
• New York State estimates that every $1 generated directly by tourism indirectly generates $7 for the State’s economy; while the minimal analysis in the draft SGEIS estimates that every $1 generated directly by the Oil & Gas industry generates only $1.40 for the economy.
• Tourism creates more jobs than gas drilling; tourism is a more labor intensive industry, compared to the Oil &Gas industry, which is about 10 times more capital intensive than the average American industry. Moreover, tourism creates more local jobs, while oil and gas relies on a small, transitory workforce from out-of-state. In particular, the tourism industry is critical to the Catskills, generating 15% of total employment.
• Respected research points to the fact that fossil fuel extraction destroys economic diversity and increases long term poverty rates.
Don’t let Gas Drilling Destroy A Critical Industry
Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy Loves New York and Values our Touri
Pennsylvania Limits Authority of Oil and Gas Inspectors
March 31, 2011
Pennsylvania Limits Authority of Oil and Gas Inspectors
And the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote today:
Pennsylvania environment chief now must approve any shale-drilling citations
In an unprecedented policy shift, inspectors in Pennsylvania have been ordered to stop issuing violations against drillers without prior approval from Gov. Corbett’s new environmental chief.
The change, ordered last week in response to complaints by the drilling industry and its supporters in the Pennsylvania legislature, dismayed ground-level staff in the Department of Environmental Protection and drew a chorus of outrage from environmental advocates.
“I could not believe it,” said John Hanger, the last DEP secretary under Gov. Ed Rendell. “It’s extraordinarily unwise. It’s going to cause the public in droves to lose confidence in the inspection process.” The order applies only to enforcement actions in the Marcellus Shale….
read more: fully story = http://www.philly.com/philly/news/118971044.html
This outrageous news follows hard on the heels of President Obama’s speech indicating his support for natural gas extraction, which means fracking with all its environmental destruction and harms to public health. Natural gas stocks rose overnight. But read this cogent analysis of the President’s “non-plan”:
Protectors, this news is a call to action.
1. HOLD THE DATE: Saturday April 23rd, “River to River” march here in Philatelphia (Schuylkill to Delaware) to protect our waters — to reclaim our democracy and express our outrage about horizontal hydrofracking and the “Gasocracy” trying blatantly to take over our state. We the people need clean air, water, earth: we won’t stand for this!
2. USE TODAY’S NEWS AS AN ORGANIZING TOOL: don’t “read it and weep,” get angry and organized. Make your personal plan to get five, fifty, or 500 more people, businesses, and organizations to comment to the DRBC between now and April 12th using our new letter HERE: (Finally, it’s easy)! http://tinyurl.com/46lbsg6
Forward widely! We will print and HAND DELIVER ALL E-LETTERS directly to the DRBC as long as they come in by April 12th midnight.
We can then galvanize all these letter-writers to speak out in an organized way to protect the whole state and region!
3. FYI: where POW will be tonight, 7 pm, Drexel: (you can pick up lit. from our table here if you want to do outreach): http://www.revbilly.com/events/drexel
Closing thought for the day from Protecting Our Waters organizers Gerald Kaufman, a former Pennsylvania legislator himself:
“This is important. Reading this [Obama’s non-plan] and the morning Inky regarding the DEP shale inspectors needing to get permission from the Secretary’s office to issue a violation is energizing me. I think back to the 60s and 70s and how we were able to impact the direction of the country because we were so well organized. We had mass involvement in the civil rights, anti war and women’s movements and it was the beginning of the environmental movement. Now we have a country ruled by the oligarchs and the only movement involving large numbers is the Tea Party. So instead of feeling depressed I feel energized and and am happy to be part of a larger movement that POW represents. I think the DEP article today is a great organizing tool.” –Gerald Kaufman
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Iris Marie Bloom
Director, Protecting Our Waters
www.protectingourwaters.com
Groups Warn Governor Cuomo About Gas Extraction Plan
March 31, 2011
An excellent demonstration of the power of letter-writing and media attention!
Groups warn Cuomo about gas extraction plan
Posted on March 30, 2011 at 1:02 pm by James M. Odato in General
About 40 groups, ranging from Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation to Trout Unlimited, wrote to Gov. Andrew Cuomo Tuesday advising him to put the brakes on allowing hydraulic fracturing that they said would pose risks as currently planned. Companies are eager to drill into the deep shale deposits below New York’s surface to extract natural gas.
“We are writing to you on an issue of urgent importance to all New Yorkers – assuring that New York State does not rush to allow risky new drilling techniques in the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations unless the protection of the State’s drinking water supplies and other irreplaceable resources can be demonstrated,” the groups, including Common Cause and the Natural Resources Defense Council, wrote.
“Specifically, we ask that you clearly confirm that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will be allowed both adequate time and resources to fully and properly evaluate the full range of potential risks associated with new natural gas development utilizing hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” before issuing a revised draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impacts (DSGEIS) pursuant to Executive Order 41 (EO 41). Simply put, the arbitrary June 1, 2011 target date established by former Governor David Paterson in EO 41 is wholly inadequate to allow for the development of an appropriately comprehensive or legally sufficient revised DSGEIS.”
The letter was copied to Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens.
AP Interview: New York drilling regs may take all summer
Published: Thursday, March 31, 2011, 9:36 AM Updated: Thursday, March 31, 2011, 9:41 AM
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Joe Martens, the new head of New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation, says gas drilling in the massive Marcellus Shale formation is the most daunting environmental issue the agency has faced in its 40-year history, but he’s hopeful rules will be in place by summer’s end to address all the potential impacts.
In an interview with The Associated Press Wednesday, Martens said DEC staff will meet twice a week starting in early April and through the summer to complete a new environmental impact statement for gas drilling that addresses issues raised in the 13,000 comments received on the first draft completed in September 2009.
New York has had a moratorium on gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale since 2008 while new rules are being developed.
Energy Boomtowns & Natural Gas
March 30, 2011
Energy Boomtowns & Natural Gas: Implications for Marcellus Shale Local governments & Rural Communities. NERCRD Rural Development Paper No. 43 Jan. 2009. Jeffrey Jacquet.
