Dear Governor Cuomo,

Finally it has become clear that you are the reason New York’s natural gas is stalled.  After nearly six years of delay, the contrast between New York and other states is appalling.

Twenty-four states have shale.  Twenty-three states are developing it.  Which state is not?  New York.

Twenty-four states have oil and gas regulations.  Twenty-three states think that regulation is effective to insure that industry develops natural gas without harming the environment.  Which state does not?  New York.

Twenty-four states have groundwater.  Twenty-three states think that shale can be developed without harming groundwater.  Which state does not?  New York.

Twenty-four states have air.  Twenty-three states think that shale can be developed without releasing natural gas to the atmosphere.  Which state does not?  New York.

Twenty-four states have rural counties.   Twenty-three states are creating value in their rural counties by developing shale.  Which state is not?  New York.

Twenty-four states have jobs.  Twenty-three states are creating jobs by developing shale.  Which state is not?  New York.

Twenty-four states have roads.  Twenty-three states think that roads improve when shale is developed.  Which state does not?  New York.

Twenty-four states have schools.  Twenty-three states think that schools improve when shale is developed.  Which state does not?  New York.

Twenty-four states have hospitals.  Twenty-three states think that hospitals improve when shale is developed.  Which state does not?  New York.   

Twenty-four states have Governors.  Twenty-three states have Governors who know that natural gas development is worth it because the economic benefits are overwhelming while the environmental and health risks are tiny.  Which state does not?  New York.

So going forward, Governor Cuomo, these posts are going to be addressed directly to YOU.  You, and you alone, have the power to get New York out of this mess.

Till Next Time,

Energy Mom

New York City

Dear Shale Protestor,

Economic war is being waged on New York’s small town and rural people by Governor Andrew Cuomo. 

If you don’t believe it, you should have been in the audience of the Independent Oil and Gas Association Annual Meeting held in Buffalo, New York November 5-7 like I was.  Speaker after speaker described farms divided and sold to pay property taxes, young people moving away because they cannot find work, businesses boarded up and abandoned, whole counties in decline while salvation lies right beneath their feet.  And while this is happening, the one person who can change it, Governor Cuomo, turns his back.

Twenty-four states in the United States have shale deposits.  Twenty-three states are developing them.  Let’s be specific:  Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho and California are developing their shale.  

Only New York is stalled.  Why?  

Well, that's because Governor Cuomo thinks New York is different from other states.  New York has to have a public health impact assessment before it can proceed, which the Governor's Commissioner of Public Health did a year ago.  It's not been released.

And here is a follow-up question for the Governor.  Given that twenty-three states are moving ahead because they understand the environmental and health risks are minimal while the economic benefits are maximal, do you think that maybe the experts, researchers, university professors and celebrities who have cropped up to obstruct shale development in New York might have another agenda?  Because whatever their agenda is, they have certainly hijacked yours.  

It doesn't matter how many times Governor Cuomo proclaims New York is "open for business," the small town and rural people of this state know it's not.

Till Next Time,

Energy Mom

New York City

Dear Shale Protestor,

Let’s assume that when the music stops Governor Cuomo is holding the hot potato.  The Governor is going to make the decision about whether shale development can go forward in New York state.  Notwithstanding the pyrotechnic protest on display here, the decision to go forward or stay stuck is going to come down to the decision of a single person, the Governor. 

Governor Cuomo has long said that if it does come down to his decision, science, not politics, will guide him.  So which will it be if he tells the state’s top scientists to go back to the drawing board after four-and-a-half years of study?

Does he not know that the United States has drilled over a million oil and gas wells, the majority of which are fractured?  Does he not know that the United States has also extracted more oil and gas over a longer period of time than any other country in the world?  If we don’t have enough data to make a scientific decision, we never will.  Period.  Full stop.

Industry has long said look at neighboring states where shale is being developed to gage the real costs and true benefits of fracturing.

Pennsylvania and Ohio, for example, have lots of jobs and thriving economies.  The water is not polluted.  The air is not fouled.  These states have large, working manufacturing sectors, and industrial activity is associated with prosperity.  Governors Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania and John Kasich of Ohio, both Republicans, were fast followers into shale development.  

Even in states like Illinois and California, governors tout the benefits and press legislators to pass newly written regulations.  They want shale development and the economic boon it provides  Admittedly, Governors Pat Quinn of Illinois and Jerry Brown of California, both Democrats, have motivation. The financial condition of their states ranks near in comparison with all fifty states nationwide.  

In contrast, here in New York the industrial base moved out 50-years ago, contributing to New York City’s almost bankruptcy in 1975.  Rebuilding a post-industrial economy took two decades and upstate New York never returned.  New Yorkers are skeptical of industrial jobs — natural resource extraction jobs in particular — criticizing them for boom and bust.

There is another unique consideration here, too.  Governor Cuomo has the majority of the national environmental movement sitting on his shoulder.  Most environmentalist organizations headquarter here.

Clearly, Governor Cuomo has a lot on his mind.  Yet, if permits are to be delayed once again, I would say ask some pointed questions and get some detailed answers, such as:

·         Is there such a thing as a carbon free economy? Where is it? Can it scale to New York size?

·         What is the fastest way to reduce carbon emissions? Where is the proof?

·         Exactly how will water be polluted?  Can it be fixed? Who pays for the damage?

·         Exactly how will air be fouled? Can it be fixed? Who pays for the damage?

·         How much electricity will barns and building rooftops generate? How much does it cost?

·         How many wind turbines need to be sited? Locate them on a map.

·         How many transmission lines need to be run? Locate them on a map.

·         How are intermittent wind and solar backed up?  If intermittent electricity sources require 100% back-up what are the savings?

·         And, why is no other governor (with the exception of Vermont, a state that is the size of a large national park with no hydrocarbon resources that banned fracking) having so much difficulty making a decision?

Till Next Time,

Energy Mom

New York City

Dear Shale Protestor,

Protestors are doing victory laps here in New York.  Today’s vote in the New York State Assembly likely has won them another multi-year delay of high volume hydraulic fracturing permits. The delay is necessary they claim because potential health impacts were not adequately studied in the Revised Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, now four and a half years in the making.  Delay is the politically acceptable way to dodge the issue, which will not go away.

Politicians know that the state cannot function without natural gas — after all New York is America’s fourth largest consumer and consumption is increasing as New York City converts boilers running on fuel oil to natural gas.  Politicians also know that there is no real alternative.  New York is not particularly sunny nor is it particularly windy.  New Yorkers also don’t like transmission lines or pipelines or most new infrastructure.  But, cowed by celebrity protestors, and essentially left on their own while industry focused in other states, politicians caved. 

Even Sean Lennon admits that the one generation family farm that inspired him to form the group Artists Against Fracking, which he co-founded with his mother Yoko Ono, runs on oil and gas.  When he was asked about why it’s not powered by renewables, he said "I'm actually looking into it. It's a long process. I've met with a lot of solar companies. I'm looking for the best possible solution, and there are a lot of options out there."[1]

Well if it’s that complicated for a single farm, imagine how it is for a village, town, city, state or a whole country.  But then again, this sort of imagining is not Sean’s oeuvre.

"I'm not an activist by nature, I'm a musician. What I'm interested in is making music and art," Lennon said on the bus. "I had no desire to be spending any of my time researching things like benzene, methane and uranium and well-pits and well-casings and what percentage of well-casings fail [sic] over how many years."[2]

Politicians are going to be chagrined when the results of the health studies return and they find that health is improved by natural gas because it burns cleaner than coal and fuel oil, and puts money in pockets of people who might otherwise not be able to afford healthcare. 

But hey, if Sean Lennon can write energy policy, then maybe I can write songs.

Till Next Time,

Energy Mom

New York City

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[1] http://news.yahoo.com/celebrity-fractivists-true-advocates-nimbys-180201969.html

Web accessed 3/6/13

[2] http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/18/fracking-debate-ono-lennon-sarandon-tour

Web accessed 3/6/13

Dear Shale Protestor,

If the argument over the Keystone XL pipeline sounds the same as the argument over fracking permits, that’s because it is, chapter and verse.  It’s the same people making the same argument using the same tactics to enforce the same agenda. They want to shut down all hydrocarbons.

It doesn’t matter that hydrocarbons are organic. [Think Mother Earth’s compost heap.]  It doesn’t matter that they are local and cheap.  It doesn’t matter that burning them dates to the caveman or that nearly 90% of the world’s energy is hydrocarbon. It doesn’t matter that should the US not develop its gas, Russia and the Middle East most certainly will.  They want what they want and they will not stop until they get it.

The lead editorial in today’s Wall Street Journal, “No More Keystone Excuses,“ does a fine job of explaining how these people work.  I took the liberty of paraphrasing today’s editorial — replacing President Obama with Governor Cuomo and Keystone pipeline with New York fracking permits, while changing little else — and all becomes clear. While they may not have science, they do have a script.

                                                                                              

                                                                             ***

‘On Friday fracking permits received another boost when the another study [aka …  life as we know it] found there is no dire impact associated with shale development.  All of which means Governor Cuomo has run out of excuses to keep delaying an approval of millions of dollars of investment that would provide thousands of jobs.

The study, the fourth such study in four years, found once again that oil and gas development via hydraulic fracturing does not impact those who live nearby.  Appalachian shale is among the world’s largest hydrocarbon resources, and Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia have already moved to develop it.  If New York doesn’t develop its gas, other states will.  Thus the issue is not whether the gas will flow but how much New Yorkers will benefit.

All this was known two years ago, but Mr. Cuomo delayed fracking permits in 2011 and again in 2012 to appease his green financial donors while contemplating a run for President.  His labor supporters favor development, which will provide thousands of union jobs.  His green supporters don’t much care about jobs because they are already rich.  They are also impervious to evidence like that in the study because global warming is their religion.

“Mother Nature filed her comments last year — the hottest year in American history; the top climate scientists in the US have already chimed in, “ said Bill McKibben in reaction to the report.  He’s the leader of the anti-fossil fuel forces who was arrested last month after chaining himself to the gates of the Governor’s Mansion.

The opponents’ goal is to shut down all fossil-fuel production, one step at a time.  They’re on the way to destroying the US coal industry, and the Sierra Club and others have made shale-gas drilling its next political target. They want the world economy to run on windmills and solar panels.  And these are the folks who denounce the Republicans for ignoring science.

The larger issue is whether the New York wants to continue to be considered a serious economic state with rising living standards and a modern energy supply. If Mr. Cuomo turns down fracking permits, neighboring states will be laughing as they sell their gas into New York markets and build their economic power, while New York adapts to the Sierra Club’s preferred future of the state as Vermont.'

Till Next Time,

Energy Mom
New York City

Dear Shale Protestor,

Today I testified in front of a New York Assembly hearing on HIgh Volume Hydraulic Fracturing hosted by: Robert Sweeney, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation; Richard Gottfried, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Health; and Charles Lavine, Chair of the Assembly Administrative Regulation Review Commission.

I was given five minutes and I stayed within my time constraint, unlike many.

After I introduced myself, here is what I said:

"... I am convinced that natural gas is the fuel of the future.

New York is a good example.  Our state is the 4^th largest consumer in the nation and poised to grow. Increasing consumption will be driven by: stricter air emission regulations that phase out coal and fuel oil, possible shutdown of Indian Point, aggressive renewable standards beginning 2015, new technology for natural gas transportation and low prices. 

Yet, despite the resource beneath our feet, New York imports 95% of what it consumes; while the revised draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement is bogged down in its 5^th year of review. This is foolish at best and hypocritical at worst.  Every concern that has been raised has either not born out or already been addressed.

Somehow what is being done in 15 other states is impossible in New York.  Some claim that the DEC is not up to the task. Others point to accidents or historical problems.  Still others point to incidents that happened in Pennsylvania before the state updated regulations.  People are skeptical that industry will be accountable, despite numerous examples to the contrary.

New York can learn from what is happening elsewhere.  Pennsylvania, for example, chose not wait for perfect regulation.  With 50-years of experience and 1 million plus wells already fracked in the United States, they did not put themselves at risk either. They learned as they went and changed when necessary.  If elections are an indication, the people are happy with the tradeoffs that their officials made.   All eight state representatives from Tioga, Bradford and Susquehanna counties — Republicans and Democrats both — favor natural gas.  The tone of local media also shows it mostly favors natural gas.    If there are monsters under the bed, they did not find them.

Pennsylvania is no pushover either.  Last year the legislature passed, and the governor signed, a comprehensive bill tightening and clarifying oil and gas regulation, as well as authorizing a price-indexed impact fee for each unconventional well.  While the precise scope of Act 13 is still being decided by the state’s Supreme Court, the first collection of the impact fee totaled $204 million.  The money is given to all counties and municipalities in the state, divided 60/40 between those that host development and those that don’t.  It goes to repair roads and bridges, provide affordable housing, preserve open space and buy equipment for first responders.

Some say leave the gas in the ground.  Wind and solar are the fuels of the future.  I disagree.  There are no alternatives to natural gas except heavy hydrocarbons with worse environmental impacts and nuclear power.  Wind and solar will not supply the energy we need.  They are expensive, and always will be, because they require large surface installations.  Over 30-years, one natural gas well on a 3-acre pad will deliver the same amount of energy as 200-acres of solar panels or 500-acres of wind turbines[1].  To put that in perspective, the amount of energy already developed in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus is equivalent to 32-square miles of solar or 80-square miles of wind[2].  Or to put it another way, covering every square inch of Tompkins and Cortland Counties with wind turbines and solar panels will not generate as much energy as the Marcellus. 

Natural gas is abundant, clean, safe, reliable and inexpensive.  It is natural, organic, local and renewable. [Note: The crowd laughed at this statement.]  Holding the future hostage to wait for utopia,  or pay for the past, is like cutting off the nose to spite the face.   It mostly harms our own — especially landowners in the economically depressed Southern Tier.  Approving the rdSGEIS, as is, without further delay, will ensure that New Yorkers benefit from this extraordinary resource right now when they need it most."

I don't think the Assembly members present heard a word I said.

Till Next Time,

Energy Mom

New York City

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[1]  Taum Sauk analysis.

[2]  Based on 7,000 wells, which is the approximate number of wells drilled and producing in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus from 2000-2012.