Starring: Chip Northrup, Julie Huntsman, Kelly Branigan
First of all I did not attend the Shale Show since; I had other commitments and family responsibilities. So, this is an account from various attendees from both sides and the in between of the spectrum.
The Show was attended by about 150 folks – give or take. About 30 or so were from out of town, which leaves a little more than 100 Town of Marylanders. Of those in attendance about 2/3 are what is considered the base of the anti-ban movement and the rest were looking to learn more about the issue of Natural gas development. Maryland Residents Against Drilling (MRAD) have to be commended for drawing attention to this complex issue to many town residents.
No-one really seems to remember what Chip Northrup focused on but he did make a rather alarming statement about wanting to shoot someone who had a the yard sign that read “Drill a Well Send a Soldier home.” (Corrected as per Chip's Comment below)
Julie Huntsman focused on her scripted effort of how to band towns against their Town Board which would eventually lead to rallying towns to ban drilling (I am not sure if she discussed any of the pitfalls of the enacting the bans). She discussed the survey process and the offered folks an opportunity to step up to get involved in local politics as a way to further the anti-gas development agenda.
From my understanding Kelly Branigan discussed the health detriments that come along natural gas drilling.
All and all according to the seasoned forum attendees from both sides, they felt that there was no new information shared. The information presented was not intended to be balanced but was deliberately intended to be one sided.
However, I will give credit to the Schenevus Shale Show (complete with a band and cookies) it served as an effective tool for those reminiscing their “civil disobedience” days back in the 60s. This cause has been viewed as an excellent chance to revive those old feelings of being oppressed by the establishment and acting out. Unfortunately, while the effort served to invigorate the base in the area the Show also served to put off some of the people who had a genuine interest in wanting to learn more.
(Because of the inflammatory nature of the comment attributed to Mr. Northrup and the divisiveness of the issue- I have opted to strike the comment. Its validity or lack of validity can be debated in a different forum - Uni)
(Because of the inflammatory nature of the comment attributed to Mr. Northrup and the divisiveness of the issue- I have opted to strike the comment. Its validity or lack of validity can be debated in a different forum - Uni)
Sounds like a recitation of the same thing we got at the Town of Otsego meetings.
ReplyDeleteFunny that there has been a tremendous amount of new information in recent months, but the anti's must stick with the same tried and true talking points....call to violence, excluded!
Whoever reported this must have gotten it third hand. The meeting was wll attended and went on for some time with locals after the presentations. Someone in Pa. has signs out to "drill a well, bring a GI home from the Mideast". As if all the gas produced will be used in the US to offset oil imports. This is misleading since gas does not offset oil imports and is already exported to Mexico - and will soon be exported to China. So no GIs are coming home because of fracking. I said I'd shoot the sign - not the owner.
ReplyDeleteyou don't get out much do ya chipper?
ReplyDeletethose signs are EVERYWHERE
open your eyes
Why would domestic shale gas not offset foreign oil?
ReplyDeleteWhat powers an electric? An NGV Honda? A CNG bus? An LNG truck?
More misinformation from Northrup -- who is truly full of it, and now over-flowing.
Natural gas is not a direct substitute for oil in most applications - transport - nor is coal, nor is electrical power from nuclear, etc.
ReplyDeleteIf that were not the case, we would not be exporting gas to Mexico and China - and importing oil - at an increasing rate. We would be using all the gas produced in the US in the US - which we are not.
So no direct offset. No GIs brought home.