I can't recall if Coop Extension has already sent this out, but I just found it on their website and thought it worth sending, even if it's a repeat - I agree with Kate re: keeping priorities clear, and moving forward with solidarity! New York Natural Gas Summit: Challenges & Opportunities Monday, November 30, 8:15 am-5:00 pm [Van pool leaves from CCE-Tompkins at 7:45am] Owego Treadway Inn, Owego, New York Topics include the Geology of the Shale; Municipalities and the Marcellus Shale; Environmental, Water and Regulatory Issues; Local Government Preparation; Workforce Development and Small Business Application; Landowner management; Legal Issues; Water and Wells; Community Development; Taxation, Revenues, and Property Valuation; State and National Energy Plans. Local government officials, landowner coalition representatives, citizens seeking more information, industry representatives, environmental advocates, and researchers and educators are encouraged to attend. Fee: $40. Suggested donation for van pooling: $5. Van pool leaves CCE-Tompkins at 7:45am. Visit gasleasing.cce.cornell.edu for a link to detailed information and to register for the summit. To sign up for the van pool, contact Sharon Anderson at (607) 272-2292.
LEVEL GREEN - fostering sustainable community through collaborative initiatives in hospitality, education and the arts, in the 150 year-old democratic spirit of the Danish Folk School. 1519 Slaterville Road, Ithaca, NY 14850 (607) 339-9472 --- On Sat, 11/21/09, Katie Quinn-Jacobs <[email protected]> wrote: From: Katie Quinn-Jacobs <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] Marcellus shale drilling NIMBYism To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" <[email protected]> Date: Saturday, November 21, 2009, 6:37 AM Will do, Gay. Though I certainly hope George is receiving a similar request to clarify his position. Instead, I see Eric has taken up George's banner in correcting Jan's post -- whose message must have cross-posted with mine. Seems she took offense at the cheap shots in George's statement too. Watching the byzantine logic Eric is employing as he tries to justify the slam against the "leisure environmentalists" and the "do anything to win" comment about other hardworking local organizations sort of confirms my impression that ST needs to hear from other voices. I don't belong to Shaleshock or ToxicsTargeting, but I do belong (I think or at least I want to) to Sustainable Tompkins. Having witnessed the divisions in the Iraq anti-war mov't, I know that we will need to work with other organizations to be successful. Can we really afford to let divisive language go unchecked when it emerges within our organizations? And I would argue that the list serv is for the most part the "public face" of ST at present, since the monthly dish-to-passes have been dissolved. It's coalition building time, not time to sacrifice the good in pursuit of the perfect. In any case, the distinction between ST the organization and its list serv's discussion threads isn't lost on me and I can post a correction to that effect. Thanks for sharing your concern and for all your good work. Warm regards, Kate Gay Nicholson wrote: > Hi Katie, > > Just want to note that Sustainable Tompkins, as an organization, is not > criticizing citizens protesting the drilling of Marcellus Shale. In fact, > our board of directors supports the call for a statewide ban and for > withdrawal of the SdGEIS. It would be more accurate to rephrase your > statement about the "irony of the very group that is supposed to be > promoting sustainability (ST) criticizing citizens' who at last are coming > to awareness..." so that people understand that it was a subscriber to this > list that made that statement, not anyone from our organization. > > I just wanted to make sure people understand that the comments of > individuals on this list serv are not necessarily the perspective of the > staff and board of ST. This list is open to anyone interested in topics > regarding local sustainability. > > thanks, > Gay > > > > On Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 11:15 AM, Katie Quinn-Jacobs > <[email protected]>wrote: > > >> Once a friend of mine introduced me to a branch of organizational >> psychology that used "lazy, crazy, deserves to die" as a way to capture the >> rhetoric of people who vilify others with differing points-of-view. This is >> done to shame others into silence or justify aggression. Although "lazy, >> crazy, deserves to die" takes many linguistically creative forms, it's >> fascinating to watch how this sort of language is used time and time again >> to disempower groups of people. It is used against Arabs to justify war and >> state sponsored torture and against the poor to justify an economically >> stratified society. It is also used in smaller venues. >> "Leisure environmentalist" falls into the "lazy" class, I think, and >> "NIMBYism" appears to be an extension of "deserves to die." Also, >> "anecdotal" the way it's been used on this list serve, as the antagonist of >> "science and research," in the course of the hydraulic fracturing >> discussions fills the "crazy" category. >> >> In a world as complex, out-of-control and vast as ours, perhaps the only >> place we can hope to have an impact (as Voltaire suggested in Candide) is >> our own backyard. Tending our own gardens, being stewards of our own land, >> protecting our nest. That the expression of this instinct should be >> ridiculed or belittled because Tompkins County is part of a larger toxic >> culture/global system is unfair and anger about the societal contradictions >> it highlights misplaced. >> From my perspective, people trying to defend themselves from being consumed >> by an indifferent large-scale systemic illness makes perfect sense. This is >> a very old. very common sense thing to do. What's more I'm sure that >> everyone can agree that if Tompkins County throws itself willingly into the >> maul of global energy markets, it will change nothing. The irony of the >> very group that is supposed to be promoting sustainability (ST) criticizing >> citizens' who at last are coming to awareness about the urgency of >> environmental depletion that our culture is predicated on is only eclipsed >> by the fact that Halliburton and its minions has set its sites on one of the >> rare community's in our country that is actively promoting sustainable >> lifestyles. >> >> This not-so-constructive criticism also smacks of a double standard -- and >> classism. While discussions on ST are tolerant of uninformed rural >> landowners who cut deals with the energy companies because they are strapped >> for cash, suburban middle income folks aren't granted the same largess for >> how their culture defines the life decisions they make. >> >> NIMBY and proud, >> >> Katie Quinn-Jacobs >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------- >> > Gay Nicholson, Ph.D. > President > Sustainable Tompkins > 109 S. Albany St. > Ithaca, NY 14850 > > www.sustainabletompkins.org > > > 607-533-7312 (home office) > 607-220-8991 (cell) > 607-216-1552 (ST office) > 607-216-1553 (ST fax) > > [email protected] > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please > visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > Questions about the list? ask [email protected] > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > > -- _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins Questions about the list? ask [email protected] free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins Questions about the list? ask [email protected] free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
