How I learned to stop worrying and love fracking
Just because you've read scores of stories about fracking problems _ like neurological and respiratory ailments possibly due to air quality around fracking wells and compressor stations, or poisoned water systems and ravaged infrastructures, or the inability to sell one's home at a decent price or get insurance for fracking-related claims etc ... That's no reason to be concerned for your health, your children's health, or the health and viability of your communities.
Don't forget ... The gas industries pay fines when they mess up (didn't you learn anything from the BP spill? Everything gets made OK again!).
When a company makes hundreds of millions of dollars, a fine of $10,000 or so is NOT looked at as overhead or a write-off. Destroyed lives are NOT looked at as the cost of doing business. These companies really care. You've seen their track record ... right?!
Anyway, New York has lots of money to keep an eye on these guys. There are thousands of DEC inspectors out there doing their job every day everywhere!
Anyway, the money that those few of our neighbors who strike it rich might get is well worth the miniscule risk the rest of us will face.
It's true that most of the jobs coming in will be out-of-staters _ you know, those guys they call "roustabouts" who follow the wells around. And maybe our tax base won't see much in the way of gas industry revenue.
But we'll be doing all of America a favor by helping make an energy product we can export to China or India while leaving us at home to do our duty and continue to pay high energy prices.
We're lucky to live in a time when powerful people in politics and industry really DO have our best interests at heart ... Let's frack New York!
Lou Piciullo
Laurens
