Below is a Times Union Opinion piece I wrote. My point is that all energy
has an associated cost. It is important to keep this in perspective.
The Cost of Energy
I read Sandy Steubling’s letter in 11/15/2011 TU, “Fracking issues go
much deeper” with much interest. We do indeed like clean air and water but
we like energy even better. While the TU prints article after article about
potential risks of fracking it ignores the very real contamination that we
are exposed to from fossil fuels every day. A previous TU article (“A
crack in fracking’s record; maybe more?”, 8/4/2011) digs deep to find a
potential problem that is reported to have contaminated a well in 1984. This
was before current safeguards were in place and without the stringent
standards DEC will enforce on new exploration. Meanwhile tens of thousands
of oil leaks every year actually do contaminate water as in the 11/14/2011
TU article “Oil spill cleanup dispute delays return of family”. That oil
slick under your car is about to become groundwater pollution. If you are
afraid of contaminated water don’t use fossil fuels or drink bottled water
(DEHA) or canned beverages (BPA from the epoxy coating) for that matter.
I grew up next to a gas station, across the street from a natural gas well.
The gasoline contaminated ground water, the natural gas well did not. I
would much rather pay NYS landowners for clean natural gas than terrorists
for oil. Especially since the oil actually does contaminate my water.
