Thursday, February 28, 2013

Comment Posted to EID

I'm keeping an original copy of my comments to EID in case they censor me, or edit my posts.
(almost always).

http://eidmarcellus.org/marcellus-shale/if-trees-could-talk-they-would-say-burn-natural-gas-not-wood/18339/

IN RESPONSE TO THIS: (from Bill Desrosiers, formerly of EID now works at Cabot).

Bill permalink
February 25, 2013

I find it interesting that just as this article appears, Bill Huston's blog had an entry on how many trees and how much forest has been destroyed by drilling. These groups want to foster the illusion of being separate grassroots efforts, but the similarity and timing of these two events (and likely others as well) seem to point to a common guiding hand. No, I am not a conspiracy theorist; I believe in Occam's razor, and see the same interests (read that as funding) behind this. And I also disagree with Bill's premise – his assumption that the percentage of trees is evenly distributed over all the acreage in PA, and therefore each wellpad destroys the same number. Based on my trips to Bradford County, I saw at least as many wells, both complete and under construction, in fields as elsewhere. Not as scientific looking as a bunch of numbers and computations based on a faulty premise, but then again sound logic is not what it's about for them is it?


Bill, as I stated in my blog, I did this analysis because someone asked me how many trees were destroyed by pipelines in NY.  While I did estimate this for the Constitution Pipeline (733 acres * 500 trees per acre = 377,500 trees), I also did this for the entire state of PA, because a) I was curious myself, and b) because the data was readily available. 

I made no faulty assumption as you claim. I used 500 trees per acre for PA Forests (citation is in my blog for this conservative number), and I also accounted for the fact that 57% of PA is forested. These numbers are ballpark guesstimates, but is firmly based in science. Scientists make these kinds of estimates all the time, and while it is impossible to get a precise number, I have a very high degree of confidence that my estimates are within an order of magnitude of being correct.

As for the accusation that I am directed by someone, or paid by someone, those are both ridiculous claims. No one tells me what to do or write. I report to no one other than my own conscience. In the past ~3 years I've been doing this work, I have received maybe $300 for my video work, mostly donations from individuals and ZERO foundation money. About $100 came from an environmental organization for shooting Marcellus Shale Exposed, which just barely covered by expenses, nothing more. (PS it was a surprise gift... I agreed to do the gig for free, as I do for ALL of my work: AS A VOLUNTEER). Whereas I have spent at least $15,000 of my own money fighting fracking. So now that you know the truth, please stop spreading falsehoods, because it is a crime (defamation). Thanks.  I know and am in contact with thousands of people, like myself, who are fighting this INDUSTRIAL INVASION for free, as volunteers, and I know maybe 6 who are paid, mostly working with big environmental NGOs.  <b>Heck, I can name a DOZEN people just at EID who are paid propagandists.</b>  So your accusations that this movement is funded by "special interest groups" are baseless.  This is nothing less than the biggest grassroots environmental movement in 10 years, 100 years, maybe of all time.

PS: (assuming it's Bill Desrosiers) You never responded to my inquiry about why there is a drilling rig on the Costello well pad in Dimock? This is within the 9 sq. mi. prohibited zone  established by the PA DEP in the consent agreement with Cabot. Thanks.



--
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May you, and all beings
be happy and free from suffering :)
-- ancient Buddhist Prayer (Metta)

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