well... Elmira has arrested at least eight prostitutes coming down from Rochester in the last year catering to the gas workers
Posted on 09/23/2012 7:43:24 AM PDT by Vince Ferrer
In their desperation to block Gov. Cuomo from giving the okay for fracking in New York, die-hard opponents of the natural gas drilling technology are floating laugh-out-loud-funny health and environmental threats.
Most hilariously, the enviro-activists have demanded that state officials explore an alleged link between fracking and — we kid you not — syphilis.
They argue that a drilling boom would draw an influx of male workers from other states who would engage in activities of a kind that would spread sexually transmitted diseases.
They also contend that a boom would trigger a housing crunch, adding to homelessness and the health ailments that go along with it.
And that increased truck traffic would not only lead to more road fatalities, but would also — again, no kidding — discourage people from getting the outdoor exercise they need to stay fit.
This is absurd. If New York starts saying no to entire industries on the grounds they might trigger population changes, rising home prices and truck traffic, it might as well turn out the lights.
Have the people pushing these theories considered the health effects of unemployment and poverty — which are all too common in the parts of New York targeted for drilling?
Have they forgotten the public health upsides of harvesting natural gas — which burns far more cleanly than other fossil fuels?
What fracking opponents really want is not a study of imagined risks, but many more months of wheel-spinning in Albany — and additional fodder for litigation.
Hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, involves pumping millions of gallons of chemical-laced water deep into the earth at high pressure to release trapped natural gas. For four years, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has analyzed the extent of true health concerns, such as the potential for air and water pollution.
As a result, the DEC has proposed what everyone acknowledges are some of the tightest regulations in the nation — including an absolute ban on drilling in the entire region surrounding New York City’s reservoirs.
The opponents tried to push DEC Commissioner Joseph Martens into hiring a public health consultant to check out the danger of venereal diseases and all the rest.
Smartly, he went only so far as to ask Health Commissioner Nirav Shah to review whether DEC has appropriately considered health concerns. If faux seriousness is what it takes to head off lawsuits, so be it. Stifling laughter is a small price to pay for progress toward fracking approval.
New Yorkers are worried about importing syphillis, what a hoot; but, if you’ve ever lived there, it makes perfect sense.
And just who would they be engaging in these activities with? (If not local women who would be engaging in activities of a kind that might spread sexually transmitted diseases?)
It takes two to tangle.
Maybe they are afraid of young men in their own community making a serious paycheck. Might upset their 'natural order' of things.
It is their State, they get the government they vote for. I just think that if they don't want to produce their own resources, they should be honest about it--and should pay a surcharge for energy shipped there. Call it a NIMBY fee.
Syphilis, I mean.
***They argue that a drilling boom would draw an influx of male workers from other states who would engage in activities of a kind that would spread sexually transmitted diseases.***
This reminds me of an old codger here 55 years ago who was opposed to improving the roads in our area because it would bring in ...”...All that big city sin and corruption!”
Gov Cuomo probably has more sense then a typical Dem gov. He is hampered by environmentalists that forms his winning voting bloc combo, but if the state does not solve its budget deficit he will be thrown out of office like his dad by the GOP Pataki. Fracking makes sense because it will be done in the sparsely populated up state NY where industry has left and unemployment is high. Unlike off shore where you must deal with scared rich beach home owners, fishing communities and environmentalists over oil spills on ocean and the PR damage it can wrought, fracking is a no brainer and vast tax revenue as well as badly needed jobs. Gov Cuomo has ambition to be POTUS one day, this may be his first policy he made based on practical needs over ideological ones that plague the Dems.
And of course, there are no STDs or homelesness caused by unemployment.
Well, there are, but they're organic. The fracking ones are artificial. And they are an invasive species.
Transparent pretext.
There is cause for concern when water supplies might be threatened, and doing due diligence is only sensible. However, in the instance of fracking, safeguards can be mandated which will prevent watershed contamination in even the most extreme situations (study the worst-case scenario and apply/require appropriate preventative measures--although they may increase drilling costs).
If those are the conditions which New York sees fit to impose, it is their State.
I am for state-level standards and regulations on the oil and gas industry, because the State will be more familiar with its geology, geography, and particular needs/requirements and better able to address those than a one-size-fits-all Federal policy.
Let the market decide whether the expense is worth the reward instead of banning activity based on nonsense.
BTW, there are some very rich landowners in the region as well. In less well-heeled areas, more numerous people (smaller landholdings) will push hard for drilling activity to get lease payments, production location rent, easement fees for pipelines, and production royalties. More Jed Clampett than 'mansion on the hill' in that environment--the old money seldom needs the income as much.
Cuomo is largely responsible for the Fannie Mae debacle. He is a loser of the first order.
well... Elmira has arrested at least eight prostitutes coming down from Rochester in the last year catering to the gas workers
It never ends. These psychos are after rice now. That’s right the food! The God-send which has carried generations for millenia! A few weeks ago a report came out from God knows where asserting that planting rice is not an effective use of resources. Then just last week ANOTHER report came out (John Gambling show 710 WOR)that rice is full of arsnic. Coincidence? Not in a million years...Rice, the Evil grain!
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