OtegoNY.com

Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis hasn’t actually been doing a brilliant job of protecting NY State from the predatory Natural Gas Industry, but even though he is not a strong link, he was a link. But now the Governor Paterson has been convinced to even can him for the absurdly trumped-up charge of “insubordination.”

Yeah, he had the guts to say that the recent layoffs of over 200 DEC staff would seriously weaken the agency’s ability to protect New York’s environment. But who the hell cares about heath, safety, quality of life or the environment, when there are the profits of parasitic out-of-state corporations and their suck-ups to protect?

This from the Adironack Daily Enterprise:

“Many of our programs are hanging by a thread,” stated the memo, which was reported by the Albany Times Union on Tuesday. “The public would be shocked to learn how thin we are in many areas. DEC is in the weakest position that it has been since it was created 40 years ago.”

The memo warned that fewer polluted sites would be cleaned, stocking of game fish could be halted, and fewer regulators would be available to oversee the expected natural gas drilling boom in the Marcellus Shale that extends into southern New York.

So much for the the gas pusher’s claims that “You have to let the DEC do their jobs.” There go over 200 more DEC jobs that won’t be done.

It’s strange (but sadly predictable) that there will always be a portion of the population that will be fooled by people who see black as white, wrong as right (as well as  horizontal as vertical.) At every meeting where there have been pro-gas proponents, I’ve heard, “NY has the most regulations, staff, blah, blah, blah…” But we know that these are the same people who want to reduce that.

What was meager before is being reduced to woefully insufficient.

It’s no comfort to me and other anti-fracking people to know that all the pro-gas folks will regret what they are proposing some time in the future. I wish they could see that it’s not worth selling out now for a promise. But many people just don’t really think or care about the future, or the consequences of an irrational belief in “free money.”

Read the coverage at the Albany Times Union.

Take action!

This is from an e-mail from Walter Hang. It’s

Call and email Paterson to decry his efforts to cut critical environmental and health regulatory programs. Gutting DEC makes a mockery of his promise to make sure Marcellus Shale Gas Hydrofracking is done safely.  This is the last straw. Demand the draft SGEIS to be withdrawn.  Pour it on.  This is a golden opportunity.

Governor David Paterson

• 518-474-8390 (o)
• governor@chamber.state.ny.us

Please bcc: info@toxicstargeting.com so we can maintain a record of all contacts.

In an article today in the Charlotte Observer, Piedmont Natural Gas chief shill Thomas Skains insists on peddling the hokum of natural gas as “clean energy.”

Some of his more dubious (devious) statements from the article are mentioned below.

“Q: Given the explosion in California, how do we know our pipelines are safe?

“A: Our pipelines are safe.”

In other words, “Because I said so!” Which basically means, “This is not true.”

“This is nothing new. Hydraulic fracturing has been deployed over 60 years in more than 1 million wells, and I’m told there hasn’t been a single incident of proof that there’s been any groundwater contamination.”

OK, these are just lies. This man apparently does not know, or is lying about the difference between vertical and horizontal, which is just another part of the playbook of this predatory industry. This is ENTIRELY new.

High-density, high-pressure, horizontal hydraulic fracturing has NOT been done for over 60 years. He is comparing vertical to horizontal fracking, and that is like comparing the Wright Brothers’ plane with the SST.

It is disingenuous spin, which further proves that the representatives of this industry should not be trusted further than you can spit a rat.

As far as he’s been “told” that there hasn’t been a single incidence of proof… yeah, if you only listen to the other shills, you won’t get honest information. The truth is that we probably never will be told of the incidents, because the industry puts so much effort into covering everything up and lobbying for deregulation and tax breaks. It’s guys like him who don’t want you to know when their industry screws up, so why on earth would anybody trust him or quote him without challenging it?