This is a new ChenangoNY.net! Hopefully we will be able to make this site at least an occasional stopping place for all who would like to know more about Chenango County, New York.
3,000 Sign Petition for NO JOBS
Where there is no affordable energy, there are no jobs, period. Sure, most of the gas is being sent out of state, but before a region can attract industry, it needs an attractive labor pool, a viable transportation infrastructure, and an affordable energy source.
Take advantage of natural gas resources, and the Southern Tier of New York could attract enough industry to not only maintain native residents - something that it has not done in decades - but also to entice others into moving here. The state of Chenango County today is such that the people who are trying to flee the depressed economy here cannot, because first they need to sell homes that nobody else is moving in to buy. Some homes remain on the market for two or three years, or longer.
Taking advantage of our energy resources would attract industry, and increase both our employment and our tax base. We could all use lower taxes, since most Southern Tier counties have tax rates among the top 50 counties in the country when compared to income. We are all for good stewardship of the environment, but No Drill = No Energy = No Industry = No Economy. Seeing the attitude of many Chenango County residents, we should all become accustomed to seeing many more empty storefronts in Norwich, and many more foreclosures.
Three thousand sign petition for moratorium on drilling
By: Melissa deCordova, Sun Staff Writer
Published: November 16th, 2010
Originally found at: http://www.evesun.com/news/stories/2010-11-16/10922/Three-thousand-sign-petition-for-moratorium-on-drilling/
NORWICH – A petition containing more than 3,000 signatures and asking for a moratorium on natural gas drilling in the Afton, Coventry and Bainbridge areas was delivered to the Chenango County Board of Supervisors this month.
County resident Kim Michels circulated the petition and presented it to Clerk of the Board RC Woodford, who entered the document as a matter of public record.
According to Woodford, the individuals who signed hail primarily from
the Southern Tier, but also come from as far away as New Jersey, Pulaski
and Roscoe. [Emphasis added.]
The petition asked signers to agree that gas drilling should be prohibited primarily due to “the great harm it would cause to our environment, our health and our property,” and to protest gas leases that were allegedly obtained “by the gas companies’ dishonesty, either by telling lies, lies by omission, deceit and/or coercion to get people to sign contracts.”
“We hope that our government will do the right thing and protect our land and us and not succumb to greed at our expense,” the petition reads.
The document is the latest in a long string of visits and letters to the county’s board (and letters to The Evening Sun editor) over the past few months from citizens opposed to hydraulic fracturing. The horizontal drilling technique is used to extract natural gas from the Marcellus and other shale formations found within the Appalachian River Basin states of Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York.
Multinational energy companies are currently building their holdings of mineral rights in those states, and have been fracturing, producing natural gas and developing pipeline infrastructure since 2008. Chevron Corp. announced a week ago that it would acquire Atlas Energy, and its extensive Marcellus holdings, for $4.3 billion. The acquisition in similar in stature to Exxon Mobil Corp.'s $41 billion deal to buy XTO Energy a year ago.
