tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post8976354792226941640..comments2024-03-28T17:55:31.180-04:00Comments on The Gossips of Rivertown: Crude Oil on the HudsonCarole Osterinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16010623982526286408noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-16141210863138167202014-07-11T09:36:33.128-04:002014-07-11T09:36:33.128-04:00I attended this event with a cultivated skepticism...I attended this event with a cultivated skepticism - but not because I accept the idea of river transport for crude oil for a minute. <br /><br />Rather, with the Environmental Defense Fund's nuanced approach to fracking in mind, my ear was attuned to potential weaknesses in the presentation which might compromise any eventual negotiating positions. <br /><br />My skepticism was totally inapplicable to the situation; there's no bargaining position in it at all. We have about as much chance to slow this thing as the Oglala Sioux had to slow prospecting once gold was discovered in the Black Hills. This gold rush is using our river every day and will only increase in volume.<br /><br />Thanks to my skepticism, I became utterly convinced that the river is in the greatest danger I've ever known, with nothing standing between the inevitable oil spill and the river's continued slow improvement - nothing except for the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation! (If THAT doesn't give you shivers I don't know what can.)<br /><br />As awful as it feels, we need to grovel to the DEC and ask it to honor the spirit and the letter of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). We need to beg these bureaucrats to conduct a proper environmental review which, for some reason, they desperately want to avoid. Fancy that ...<br /><br />The value of a written comment to the DEC is immeasurable (deadline August 1st). Bad grammar and misspellings count for so much more than a name on a petition. <br /><br />Do you wonder where the governor is on the issue? First become a statistic and the politicians won't be far behind. At the moment, this business isn't even on the map.<br /><br />Many thanks to the Sloop Club for organizing the event, and to Hudson Basilica for hosting it.<br /><br />And thank you Gossips for a really great summation. I know that took a great effort! Unfortunately we'll be referring back to the information contained in this post for some time to come. unheimlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00204285837938988668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-65823196035445580072014-07-10T22:30:31.982-04:002014-07-10T22:30:31.982-04:00This is very alarming. A big thank you to Basilica...This is very alarming. A big thank you to Basilica Hudson for providing the spacewindlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17311090755847844531noreply@blogger.com