I agree. There is no rational reason for drilling Marcellus and no reason not to oppose it. Not only will it lay waste to our region and most likely,poison our drinking water with hazardous chemicals and even radioactive elements. it will contribute to global climate change thereby jeopardizing everyone. In addition to the statistic Martha Robertson quoted the Planning Dep't that operation from one well would have twice the greenhouse gas emissions as the entire operations of Tomp Co government for a year, I have just read in the comments made on the dSGEIS by the Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association that "analyses "carried out during the past year by Rice University in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, results have shown that drilling related emissions of carbon dioxide and two other major greenhouse gases underlying climate change were estimated to be roughly equivalent to the impact from two 750 Megawatt coal-fired plants".
_http://www.senecalake.org/_ (http://www.senecalake.org/) As for Ithaca College, it cannot convert all its buildings overnight. The campus has made a considerable commitment to sustainability. Just because we as communities and individuals have not yet achieved Best Practice perfection in all things does not mean that we have to submit to the will of huge corporations in their "drill baby drill" lust for profit. As Tony said why should we or any other community "suffer the same catastrophic fate" as those before us? It will only make the situation worse for everyone. Communities and states (and one would hope nations, finally,) must "draw the line in the sand" for the health,safety, security and protection of all. And, again, all indications are that the extensive energy-intensive operations of hydro-fracturing will accelerate not slow climate change. It is not part of a clean energy transistion. BTW has anyone seen that corporate ad that starts out extolling the virtues of alternatives to oil dependence and ends with the words "natural gas, the best alternative." What a perniciously clever piece of propaganda!....and what do you suppose was the instigation for it???........ I do agree that demolishing the Ithaca Commons to build yet more restaurants requiring yet more gas lines would be a horrendous and hypocritical waste, not to mention of course the Commons' importance to the life of the City and County and beyond. That proposal just stuns me. Demolishing the Commons, would, in addition to other impacts, require substantial energy inputs and seriously damage the City/County goal of reducing GHG emissions. Jeanne In a message dated 12/12/2009 1:13:12 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes: George, Your arguments are compelling but not persuasive to me. As modern industrial civilization comes down (if it really does come down voluntarily) from its fossil fuel addictions, how much of the water & land is to be plundered? Should we all be suffering the same catastrophic fate as those who had no choice or were ignorant of the hazards, or those who saw only the dollar signs in their mining & drilling? The cliches from Copenhagen, Leave the Oil in the Soil and the Coal in the Hole, I would add, let's pass on the gas. Moral righteouness is not enough to convince me that it's okay to drill and threaten what we have. We only compound the problem locally and then some when we transport the radioactive water to "where?" Let's hold our ground with whatever "relatively" clean water & land we have, anywhere in the world. Tony Del Plato On Sat, Dec 12, 2009 at 12:57 PM, George Frantz <[email protected]> wrote: > > --- On Wed, 12/9/09, Jan Quarles <[email protected]> wrote: > > "I hope you're not asking that question as a way, yet again, to say that > protesting fracking is morally wrong as long as the protestors are heating > with gas. That's a trap that could have a chilling effect on the learning > curve." > > > +++++++ > Sorry, Jan, but that is exactly the point of my question regarding how IC > heats its buildings. _______________________________________________ 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
