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Ithaca, NY Bank Won’t Grant Mortgage on Land with Drilling Lease

New York landowners who are pro-drilling may want to consider whether or not to continue doing business with Tompkins Financial Corporation, a bank/wealth management/insurance firm based in Ithaca, NY. Why? They refuse to give a mortgage on any property under lease with a drilling company. They’re attempting to blame federal guidelines from Fannie Mae as their excuse. Sorry Charlie, that doesn’t fly. It’s anti-drilling prejudice plain and simple.

Two other banks you may want to reconsider doing business with: Spain’s Santander Bank and State Employees’ Credit Union in Raleigh, N.C. Same reason…
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If NY Electric Plant Can’t Convert to NatGas, School Gets Screwed

As MDN has previously reported, anti-drillers in Tompkins County, NY are making a serious attempt to prevent an electrical generating plant near Ithaca, NY from converting from coal to clean-burning natural gas (see NY Eco Group Protest to Stop Plant Converting from Coal to NatGas). If the utility company is not granted permission to convert, they’ll shut the plant down, which is exactly what the anti-drillers want.

Problem is, if that plant shuts down, it will remove one of the largest sources of tax revenue for the local Lansing school district. But the antis, blinded by their twisted “renewables-only” energy philosophy, don’t care…
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NY Eco Group Protest to Stop Plant Converting from Coal to NatGas

It would be hysterically funny if it weren’t so pathetically sad. So-called environmentalists don’t want an electrical generating power plant in Tompkins County, near Ithaca, NY, to switch from burning coal to natural gas because they’re afraid it will mean more fracking. Talk about cuckoo birds. Members of a group called the Finger Lakes Action Network protested at the plant on Saturday…
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Dryden Files Request with NY Highest Court to Not Consider Appeal

Although New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has dithered for more than a year on whether or not to allow fracking–and continues his equivocation–there is a much more important drama unfolding that will ultimately, in our opinion, determine whether or not New York will ever see meaningful shale drilling. The more important issue is now in the courts. Specifically, it revolves around whether or not New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, will hear a pair of cases from towns that have banned drilling.

A few weeks ago we told you about the appeals from a landowner near Cooperstown (Middlefield) and from Norse Energy (Dryden) asking the Court of Appeals to hear the case and overturn the town bans. The Town of Dryden has now sent their own request to the Court of Appeals–asking them to not consider the case…
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Breaking: NY Court Upholds Local Town Frack Bans

Winston ChurchillIt is a day of disappointment, but also a day of resolve, for landowners in New York State. Yesterday, the NY Supreme Court Appellate Division in a 4-0 decision ruled towns have the right to ban hydraulic fracturing and natural gas drilling. MDN has previously chronicled the long fight against a simple majority of three town board members unilaterally stripping away the rights of all property owners in a township to allow natural gas drilling. The matter came to a head when lawsuits were filed in two of those cases, the towns of Dryden (Tompkins County, near Ithaca), and Middlefield, (Otsego County, near Cooperstown)–see Town Frack Ban Cases Heard in NY Supreme Court Appellate Division for important background information.

The 77,000-member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York, whose lawyer, Scott Kurkoski, represented a JLCNY member in the Middlefield case, has responded to the loss (below) by saying they intend to appeal the decision to the next, and highest, court in New York–the Court of Appeals. MDN has a copy of the court’s decision (embedded below), reaction from the near-orgasmic anti-drilling eco-nuts, and our view of what it all means for the future of drilling in NY…
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Weekend Anti-Gas Propaganda-fest Scheduled for Upstate NY Towns

An all-hands-on-deck anti-drilling propaganda-fest will be held this weekend in Bath, Spencer and Elmira (all in NY state). The so-called “Fracking vs. Human Health Forums” will feature lies and distortions carefully crafted to scare the general public. If you’re a landowner who lives in those areas, attend and make your voice heard to counter the untruths that will be presented.

The details on times and locations:

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NatGas vs Coal for Electricity, What’s an Anti-Driller Do?

An electrical generating power plant located in the most anti-drilling part of Upstate New York—Ithaca and Tompkins County—has filed with the state Public Service Commission to convert the plant from burning coal to burning clean natural gas. This puts anti-drillers like Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (Democrat from Ithaca) in a quandary. If she supports it, it points out her rank hypocrisy on the drilling issue. If she opposes it and the plant shuts down, she screws a whole bunch of people out of jobs. Not to mention that burning natural gas is a LOT cleaner than burning coal—so opposing it would put her on the side of more air pollution.

Yeah, it’s a real quandary for Ms. Lifton…

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NY Politicians Mad at DEC for Filing Fracking Rule Extension

Binghamton’s failed mayor, Matt Ryan, and other anti-drilling politicians went to Albany yesterday (presumably using taxpayer money to fund the trip) to carp and complain about the Dept. of Environmental Conservation’s filing for a 90-day rule extension which keeps the process of new fracking regulations alive—at least for another few months. Mayor Matt and Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (from where else? Ithaca) want the DEC to knock it off:

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Important Developments in NY Fracking Ban Court Cases

court gavelThere’s been an important development in two cases on appeal in New York State courts that challenge municipal bans of fracking. The two cases challenge municipal fracking bans in the Town of Dryden, NY (see this MDN story for background) and the Town of Middlefield, NY (see this MDN story for background).

According to lead attorney Tom West, all the necessary paperwork for both cases has been filed (called “perfecting” the case). West believes both cases will make it onto the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court docket for an early February hearing of oral arguments. The Appellate Division typically issues an opinion 6-8 weeks following oral arguments, so we should have a decision by late spring. In addition and of keen interest, the plaintiff in one of the cases has changed.

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Cornell President Says Fracking Genie is Out of the Bottle

David J. Skorton, president of Cornell University, and Glenn C. Altschuler, vice president for University Relations at Cornell, jointly penned an opinion piece for Forbes magazine that talks about the role of universities in the fracking debate. Cornell is home to professors Robert Howarth and Tony Ingraffea who have both made a cottage industry out of bashing natural gas drilling and fracking (and infamously still maintain natural gas pollutes more than coal).

Here is the (eye-popping) concluding statement from Cornell’s president about fracking:

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Cornell University’s Anti-Fossil Fuel Brainwashing Sessions

The Cornell University Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences along with the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (also a Cornell group) have launched a lecture series for undergraduates they call “Sustainable Earth Energy and Environmental Systems” (see the flier embedded below).

MDN calls it brainwashing sessions for young students to ensure they’re properly indoctrinated into the cult of hating fossil fuels.

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Two Views on Road Use Agreements for Drillers in NY

Some counties in Upstate New York are prepared for potential road damage caused by trucks and heavy equipment when and if shale gas drilling begins. Some of those counties are a lot more welcoming of drillers than others.

Steuben County in New York’s Southern Tier area—one of the five named counties likely to receive permits when drilling begins—is one of the counties ready with a road-use agreement for drillers. Interestingly, Vince Spagnoletti, Public Works Commissioner for Steuben County, says the road use agreement in Steuben originated not because of potential gas drilling but because of potential wind farm development:

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Town of Caroline, NY Prepares to Strip Away Landowner Rights

Landowners in the Town of Caroline (Tompkins County, NY) are about to have their constitutionally protected property rights stripped away by the anti-drilling town board. Elections do have consequences, and last November two level-headed pro-drilling board members were tossed in favor of anti-drillers. What follows? Citizens are denied their constitutional rights.

Thursday night the town board will hold a freak show public hearing on their proposed fracking ban:

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NY Anti-Drillers Target Cuomo Big Money Supporters

Anti-drilling groups from the Southern Tier of New York State sent a letter to the top 1,000 big money contributors to Gov. Andrew Cuomo yesterday asking them to pressure Cuomo to ban fracking in the state. The letter was a joint effort of New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD), Walter Hang from Toxics Targeting, and the Mayor of Binghamton, Matt Ryan.

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Warning: Caroline Residents to be Stripped of Property Rights

The Town of Caroline in (where else?) Tompkins County, NY is getting ready to strip away the property rights of their citizens. All that stands in the way is a sham public hearing and a town board vote and poof—the property rights for thousands  of residents—guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution—are gone. This is something that is happening (distressingly) with an increasing frequency in New York State.

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