First, to avoid NIMBYism, we’ll adopt the Farmers Market rule – whatever we consume should be produced within 30 miles of Ithaca. Everything looks good if someone else suffers the consequences, of course, although it’s funny how many times things come back to haunt us from afar – oil from Iraq, acid rain, Three Mile Island etc. So for the purposes of this analysis, let’s stick to local solutions for local problems. That being said, what are our main alternatives to locally produced natural gas?

Coal – there’s a good thought. Can you imagine how much we’d have to tear up the landscape to get enough coal to feed the enormously attractive Milliken Station power plant? And coal is a clean-burning fuel, right?

Nuclear – wait a minute, wasn’t avoiding nuclear power how we came to have the coal fired plant at Milliken Station? Unless everyone has changed their minds about nuclear power since then, of course.

Solar – a nice idea for limited uses, but hasn’t it already come close to bankrupting the public library? And Ithaca is such a sunny place in the winter…

Oil – that works, as long as you don’t mind what we’re doing in the Middle East to protect our supplies. And the corrupt regimes our petrodollars are supporting.

Conservation – isn’t this another way of saying partial abstinence? There’s a great idea, just back from solving the AIDS crisis in Africa and our own teen pregnancy epidemic. But at least the theory is sound.

Wind Power – have you been reading the papers? Not even Enfield is willing to host wind turbines. What if one fell on a school bus? Or a bird flew into one of the blades?

Hydroelectric – sure, that power plant will be popular sitting astride Fall Creek, just above Ithaca Falls. Or maybe at Taughannock Park. We can have new bumper stickers made up that say “Ithaca’s power supplies are Gorges”.

Lake Source Cooling – hmmm, maybe you’ve got me there, I mean, who could object to that? We could heat with the lake too. And get our drinking water and dump our waste. Just like the Native Americans did.

So far, it’s not looking too good, but this is a very educated place – maybe someone can suggest additional local power producing options that can compete with properly managed and regulated natural gas drilling. I’ll be looking forward to hearing about them. (And yes, I did leave burning peat moss out intentionally.) Until then, perhaps we should all shut down our furnaces and stoves and turn off the lights while we wait for someone with a better idea to come along. It will give new meaning to the slogan “10 square miles of enlightenment surrounded by reality”. The dark ages in reverse, actually.

Why? What if everyone had this attitude? You can’t just make it true by saying it.
That’s so Republican!

Let’s see a real explanation.

I heard Mr. Zezerson on WHCU this morning. I had a question about the eminent domain aspect of the NY regulations. Can you direct me to the law(s) or the regulation(s) that explain how this works? In particular, are the 640 acre plots pre-established, or can the driller define them on an ad hoc basis?

Thanks,

SY

I have 2 questions: how can I join your group (CCU) and where are the sample letters and relevant addresses you refer to in the above letter?

Thanks,
Michelle