Not only can concerned citizens be "Friends of Rogers Environmental Education Center," but "Friends of Natural Gas" as well. Why not let Rogers generate its own funds? Hydrofracking doesn't just have to be insanely profitable; it can be fun and educational too! Let's take a look at the possibilities.
Imagine cedar boardwalks winding around waste pits and chemical storage tanks, meandering past compressor stations and condensate tanks. What would your kids rather look at, a screaming 100-foot gas flare or a willow hut?
We can still have all the seasonal activities that families enjoy with just a few minor tweaks. For example, Winter Living Celebration can now be the Nuclear Winter Survival Challenge. Join staff botanists in a desperate attempt to find plants that can survive on low-light levels. Prizes go to best "shock and awe" costume.
They'll also be new trails like the "All the Animals That Used to Live Here" trail. See if you can find any evidence of the coyotes, bears, bobcats and other creatures that now prefer more pristine environments like New Jersey.
Introducing the new Compressor Station trail! A great hike on those sultry summer days. … ahhh! Feel the breeze from those diesel turbines! The ever-popular night walks are going to get even better. Thanks to gas well flaring, we'll be able to easily see all the owls and bats and other animals that are too sick to leave.
There will be new animals too. Take your kids to the "Wildcat Den" located at the Adams Farm. Nature truly reveals herself here. From the migration impulse that brings these odd creatures to our area, to the mating habits, territorial disputes, even life-and-death clashes -- it's all here for your nature viewing pleasure behind specially constructed and reinforced observation blinds.
At the Ronald Reagan trailside disinformation board, find out why trees are the planet's largest source of pollution. Also check out the latest on the bedeviled cash borer, already decimating much of the Allegheny National Forest and coming soon to New York's state forests. Also, high school students can drop off their entries for the essay contest, "Why Trees are Always in the Way." First prize is a brand-new Stihl chainsaw courtesy of Commerce Chenango.
Take a stroll down the Halliburton Loop: The whole trail takes at least two terms. You'll encounter sign boards explaining the Clean Drinking Water Act, the Clean Air Act and other unnecessary federal environmental laws. The observant naturalist will note holes bored into the federal legislation caused by the destructive, redstate block-headed woodpecker, an invasive species that, if left unchecked, can parasitize whole ecosystems.
Don't miss the Cornell Cooperative Interactive Exhibit, where state epidemiologists will take a sample of your child's blood and screen it for methyl-benzene, toluene and other pesky chemicals that are sometimes, maybe, sort of connected to gas drilling. Whether or not you "pass" the test -- every child gets a cool coloring book extolling the virtues of "clean-burning natural gas" and a free inhaler!
Finally, we'll need a new name and a catchy slogan. I suggest: "Norgers, Where Industry Puts Nature in Its Place."
Bill McLaughlin, a member of Chenango Forest Watch, lives in New Berlin.
Guest Column
'Friends' should unite for Rogers
- Guest Column
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Records seizure is an insult to free press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
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The evangelical view of same-sex marriage
The issue of same-sex marriage seems to appear on a daily basis in the media these days.
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Manor's fate will be Otsego board's legacy
The Otsego County Boards (plural) of Representatives, more in the past than in the present, have negotiated the county into a financial corner leaving the present board between a rock â€" increased taxation and/or deficits â€" and a hard place â€" selling the Manor.
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A closer look at our economy - Part II
We have talked about the public sector component of our economy. Now let's take a brief look at the manufacturing and retail/services sectors.
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Use fracking to fill budget gaps
- Saturday, April 20, 2013
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The kind of people we 'antis' are
In the controversy over the extraction of petroleum resources from shale, people who oppose this energy industry expansion have been called hypocrites. Claims have been made that practically every dollar diverted from petroleum development defaults to coal, and those who try to promote renewable energy resources wind up assisting that default. I am writing, not to dispute these allegations, but to lament them.
- Saturday, April 13, 2013
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Social Security is a system worth saving
- Saturday, April 6, 2013
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Gun column fuels lawlessness, paranoia
- Saturday, March 30, 2013
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Here's how you fix the national debt
Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, having scorned income taxes and budget-balancing, have left the U.S. in a desperate economic fix by unnecessarily selling national debt bonds.
- Saturday, March 23, 2013
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The true meaning of the story of Easter
The weather for Easter 2013 promises to cooperate in helping us to ponder the real mystery of Easter more deeply.
Easter is not about fuzzy bunnies, bonnets, colored eggs or budding azalea bushes. Easter is not a way to mark the return of warmth and light after a long winter. Easter is the foundation rock of all that is Christian â€" the Gospel, the Church, the Sacraments, the Scriptures.
- Saturday, March 16, 2013
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A flesh-and-blood expert won't hoodwink you
- Saturday, March 9, 2013
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Let the markets determine our energy sources
In the Crime section of your local Barnes & Noble, you'll find Elmore Leonard's recent novel "Raylan." In it, Marshal Raylan Givens encounters with a pair of thieves who steal kidneys from the healthy, then sell those vital organs back to their victims. Talk about creating a market! Move down the aisle to economics and change the heist from organs to electricity, and Mr. Leonard could have a category-busting best seller.
- Saturday, March 2, 2013
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Taking a closer look at our regional economy
- Saturday, February 9, 2013
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Investment in DEC isinvestment in state's future
What is the relationship between Gov. Cuomo's proposed budget and your desire to protect New York's environment? What is the relationship between Gov. Cuomo's proposed budget and the economic potential of tourism to upstate? What is the relationship between Gov. Cuomo's proposed budget and the value you get back from your hunting or fishing license? What is the relationship between Gov. Cuomo's proposed budget and his claim that New York is once again business friendly?
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We need to work toward living in love
Heads swirl, stomachs ache and hearts throb when violent thoughts rear their hideous heads and commit atrocious acts. Unfortunately, the aches and throbs only wane after follow-up regulatory efforts are made to stop the sadism, or after we seek solace in religion or spirituality. It’s not that the rules and religion are useless, but that the challenge to do better never goes away. Consciousness is constantly on the move to overcome its own challenges.
- Saturday, February 2, 2013
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All downtown Oneonta lacks is you
- Saturday, January 26, 2013
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America at a crossroads in 2013
Our country is at a crossroads. After four straight years of trillion-dollar deficits, our national debt now stands at over $16 trillion. If we don’t change course, based on the policies contained in President Barack Obama’s most recent budget proposal, we’ll continue to have trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see.
- Saturday, January 12, 2013
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Obamacare won't cure what ails our system
- Saturday, December 29, 2012
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Oneonta's First Night is too good to miss
- Sunday, December 23, 2012
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The right to live free from gun violence
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Records seizure is an insult to free press
