Great post! (FYI partial caveat: the the COmmons proposal is a
rebuild--which is sort of somewhat needed; most of the current
concrete is cracked and buckled).
But your overall post is very well said and needed saying.
Margaret
On Dec 12, 2009, at 4:43 PM, [email protected] wrote:
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.
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_______________________________________________
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]
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