Finding Ulysses

Property owners like Doug Austic may see some profit – or they may just see drilling company trucks running roughshod over their land without a penny of income. However, these property owners have neighbors who aren’t choosing to go along with the natural gas drilling plans. Those neighbors most certainly won’t be seeing any profit, but their homes and land will be put at risk.

Currently natural gas prices are at multi-year lows because supply is so plentiful. We are NOT in a natural gas crisis in this country. There is no earthly reason to drill for natural gas in Tompkins County except greed. But we are inviting a health crisis in Tompkins county and other residential and agricultural areas where natural gas companies are gobbling up land leases if we don’t attempt to regulate natural gas drilling now!

It seems that the average household expense from the American Clean Energy and Security Act in New York State would be much lower than the national average: 19 cents a day. New York’s expense would be the second lowest in the United States, behind only Florida. Why would Arcuri oppose this?

Michael Arcuri’s claims just don’t match the facts. Either Arcuri isn’t aware of the facts, or he doesn’t care about them, and doesn’t think that we’ll be able to tell the difference. Whichever is the case, Arcuri’s actions in opposition of the American Clean Energy and Security Act demonstrate that he is unsuited to the responsibilities of representing our district in the U.S. House of Representatives.

There was one blinking little piece of Prospect Street last night, and the rest missed the show.

If Gillibrand continues to ignore the growing concerns of people living atop the Marcellus Shale, she may find herself surprised in 2010 by some upstate resistance to her effort to gain the Democratic Party nomination for New York’s junior U.S. Senate seat.

The natural gas under Ulysses isn’t going anywhere. Will residents be willing to wait to sign leases until a new law provides them with more information about the substances that they, and their neighbors, may have to deal with?

Right across the street, at ShurSave, they sell compostable cups made by Fabri-Kal. I bought some just about a week ago for one of my son’s school projects.

Fracking requires the use of large amounts of fresh water, usually taken from local sources. Much of that water, contaminated by toxic chemicals, remains in the ground. The rest has to be recaptured and then disposed of as industrial waste.

The view certainly is nice enough, with plants rushing to break bud, opening leaf and flower… only it’s all happening so fast. Varieties of daffodil, I notice, that are ordinarily one after another this year are coming together. I’ve mowed parts of my lawn twice already.