Your right Bum...it is what it is. We have created "us". It is not the fault of Rep or Dems nor purple monkey's in the rain forest. It is us. Pure and simple. If we had the foresight to see what would happen to us in the year 2008 would we have changed anything in 1972, 1982, 1992??? No probably not. Everyone was too busy enjoying their lifestyles. When I was a kid Disney World was a place you heard of, now most seven year olds have clocked more air miles than I will in a life time. Only rich people flew somewhere. Only rich people owned Cadillacs. Now everyone flies, many many own beautiful cars and SUV's. You're right people work hard for the things they want. But now we are paying the price. There needs to be a combination of alternative energy, cut back on our wasteful lifestyles, and drilling off our own shores. We have to stop the dependency FOR everything. Energy, cheap foreign made products, and government dependency should be thrown in there too. We need to take responsibility for ourselves from the bottom up.
A Segway? Like I'd feel safe on one of those! Anyway, that is apparently a 'fair weather only' way to travel! Putting that all aside...how do you like it and was it hard to get use to?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
A Segway? Like I'd feel safe on one of those! Anyway, that is apparently a 'fair weather only' way to travel! Putting that all aside...how do you like it and was it hard to get use to?
I also own a SUV s( jeep ) I am not Mr green-treehugger as most probably think- I am a solo entrepreneur- so to speak-
As far as safe on a Segway- well I used to Hang glide so things are a matter of perspective. I have a wierd job- I actually use the Seg to save time. I dont ride it in Schenectady because NY is one of 4 states it is not legal.
Many of you are older- imagine if the Segway was invented 50 years ago- I am able to use mine for work and play- they are easy to use- many airport police use them- but on the otherhand I dont underestimate the bicycle- which btw the absolute latest thing is the http://www.greenspeed.us/bionx_motor_bike_kit.htm
As for the refining issue---who's backyard will this go in????????
Refineries are usually built near coatlines- to economize on fuel transportation cost. Aprox 50 % of Americans live near coasts ( Black Gold Stranglehold ) - and they dont want them -
Bush offered closed Military bases as refinery sites- but it turns out it costs too much to clean up unsafe ammunition and harmful contamination
I also own a SUV s( jeep ) I am not Mr green-treehugger as most probably think- I am a solo entrepreneur- so to speak-
As far as safe on a Segway- well I used to Hang glide so things are a matter of perspective. I have a wierd job- I actually use the Seg to save time. I dont ride it in Schenectady because NY is one of 4 states it is not legal.
Many of you are older- imagine if the Segway was invented 50 years ago- I am able to use mine for work and play- they are easy to use- many airport police use them- but on the otherhand I dont underestimate the bicycle- which btw the absolute latest thing is the http://www.greenspeed.us/bionx_motor_bike_kit.htm
Hang Glide? That looks like a blast too. As for the safety issue of a segway, I ride on the back of a motorcycle. I haven't heard of many Segway related accidents lately.
I almost have to agree. (sorry Rene). I have seen just too many motorcycle accidents that are not even the fault of the motorcyclist. They aren't safe any longer with the amount of cars on the road and with the speeds of today.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I was in Italy some years ago ( Rome ) Mopeds are big- It was common to see 3 people - usually teenagers on one- I actually saw FOUR kids on a single moped once- the little girl was just barely hanging on the back- I swear-
Don't apologize Bum. The logical side of me agrees wholeheartedly. The other side (perhaps stupid) of me won. We had a serious crash when we were kids, a drunk hit us going 70 mph when we were turning into our driveway. I know how unforgiving the pavement is. That was when we were kids, I can't imagine it now. We have been through the snowmobiling, boating, camping, and now we're back to the bike.
Paterson approves law on risky gas drilling But governor orders DEC to boost regulation of energy companies using hydrofracking technique
By BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer First published: Thursday, July 24, 2008
ALBANY -- Gov. David Paterson signed a law Wednesday that makes it easier for natural gas companies to use an environmentally risky underground drilling technique, promising his administration will also give regulators more power to prevent damage that has occurred in other gas-producing states. "This new law will ensure greater efficiency in the processing of requests to permit oil and gas wells, while maintaining environmental and public health safeguards," said Paterson in a statement.
Natural gas companies are racing to lock up drilling rights in the state as the price of natural gas increases along with other fossil fuels. The companies hope to drill in an area of western New York and the Southern Tier where underground gas deposits are trapped in a deep layer of rock known as Marcellus shale.
However, the environmental protections that the governor promised are not contained in the law. Rather, they consist of future plans for beefed-up regulations at the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Paterson ordered the DEC to update a 16-year-old regulation -- a generic environmental impact statement that addresses gas drilling -- to reflect the perils of the current drilling technique, known as hydrofracking.
In states such as New Mexico and Colorado where this method has been used, groundwater around hundreds of wells has been tainted with a brew of hydrocarbons and toxic chemicals.
Hydrofracking involves drilling underground up to 9,000 feet into shale formations. A high-pressure injection of water, sand and chemicals is sent down the well, where it fractures rock and releases the gas bubbles, which are drawn up through the well.
The water -- up to 6 million gallons for each well -- is then extracted and stored in open pits for later treatment as toxic waste. The U.S. Department of Energy lists water from gas drilling as among the most toxic of any oil industry byproduct.
On Wednesday, Judith Enck, Paterson's deputy environmental secretary, said the state will update its impact statement rules, which will define how companies can exploit gas deposits, to reflect hydrofracking techniques that did not exist when rules were first written.
The update will examine potential impacts from new horizontal drilling techniques, in which wells are drilled at angles, as well as potential impacts to groundwater, surface water, wetlands, air quality, aesthetics, noise, traffic and community character, she said.
Also, rules will apply not just to individual well projects, but also to the combined impact of numerous wells "in case we start seeing problems," said Enck.
She said a proposed "scoping document," which will lay out details that could be in the impact statement, will be written by DEC staffers and offered for public review at hearings sometime this fall. The final impact statement regulations should be in place by next spring, Enck added.
Josh Nachowitz, state policy director for the New York League of Conservation Voters, who had been calling for Paterson to veto the law, said the governor was taking "a step in the right direction. It is clear that the administration had recognized the validity of the concerns raised by the environmental community."
DEC officials indicated that gas companies that race to file applications before new rules are in place won't face less scrutiny. We expect that the handful of pending permit applications for horizontal drilling in the Marcellus shale will be subject to the supplement to the GEIS when finalized, or will undergo individual comprehensive environmental reviews on a parallel path if the permit is processed before the supplement has been finalized," said DEC spokeswoman Maureen Wren. "In either event, no permit will be issued without a complete environmental review of the specific issues raised by horizontal drilling." However, the DEC will have much additional work to do beyond what the new law required, including looking at how many regulators it has for well permits, as well as rules that control how gas companies can tap into water for hydrofracking.
So far, the DEC has received three drilling applications, from Fortuna Energy Inc., of Horseheads, N.Y.; Nornew Inc., of Houston, Texas; and Chesapeake Appalachia LLC, an Oklahoma-based company, for wells in Chenango, Tioga, and Chemung counties.
Many more applications are likely to flood in over the coming months as gas companies continue to buy thousands of acres of drilling rights over the last year.
On July 31 and Aug. 1, for example, officials from XTO Energy expect to sign $21.6 million in contracts with residents around Deposit in Delaware County to lease 9,000 more acres, according to a published report in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.
That's on top of a $60 million deal the company reached for rights to 37,000 acres in May.
Brian Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or by e-mail at bnearing@timesunion.com.
CAPITAL REGION More stores offering cheaper gas to customers paying cash BY JAMES SCHLETT Gazette Reporter
As federal lawmakers debate offshore drilling and cracking down on oil speculators as ways to reduce energy costs, Capital Region drivers can increasingly count on relief at the pump from Andrew Jackson and George Washington. A growing number of area convenience stores are offering cheaper gasoline prices to customers who pay with cash instead of credit cards. Some of those stores are in Guilderland, Niskayuna and Colonie. Gas retailers are establishing a dual pricing system, which enables them to dodge increasingly heavy credit card fees for gas purchases while also providing their customers a few cents of relief per gallon at the pump. Stewart’s Shops two weeks ago started talking to the state Department of Agriculture and Markets about modifying a price posting regulation so the Saratoga Springs-based convenience store chain can charge lower prices for cash gas purchases. Sixty percent of Stewart’s customers use credit cards at pay-at-the-pump stations, according to Stewart’s marketing manager, Tom Mailey. “Can we bring some of that over [to cash payments] with cash benefits? We assume there is a market for that,” said Mailey. Discounted prices for cash also force consumers to enter station convenience stores, raising the likelihood they will make impulse purchases on food and drinks. But the dual pricing system can also confuse consumers who are lured into stations with low cash gas prices, even though they intend to pay with credit cards. “It’s certainly something the motorist wants to be aware of when they pull into a station,” said AAA Northway spokesman Eric Stigberg. The Mobil station on Balltown Road in Niskayuna last week started offering cheaper prices for cash-paying gas customers. On Thursday, the station was charging $4.05 per gallon of regular gas for cash purchases and $4.12 per gallon for credit purchases — a savings of 7 cents per gallon. The average cost of a gallon of gas in the Capital Region on Thursday was $4.16, up from $3.04 a year earlier, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. Credit card fees can cost retailers up to 3 percent for every gallon of gas they sell. With wholesale gas prices way up and sales volumes dropping, retailers’ profi t margins are being pinched more by credit card fees. “The margins have been squeezed down to next to nothing, and when you add the credit card fees it gets that much worse,” said Dennis Kugler, who runs the Niskayuna Mobil. Kugler also owns the Sunoco station on Erie Boulevard in Schenectady. He said the dual pricing system will not be implemented there because Sunoco prohibits its stations from charging different prices for cash and credit purchases. Other Capital Region stations that charge less for cash gas purchases include a Citgo on Western Avenue in Guilderland and a Mobil on Route 7 in Colonie. The Guilderland Citgo was charging $4.10 for a gallon of regular gas, compared with $4.15 per gallon with a credit card. “Any option that’s easy on the pocket would be appreciated,” said Mahmood Hakak, a Siena College creative arts associate professor. Hakak was filling up his gold Dodge Stratus at the Niskayuna Mobil, ultimately costing him $51 for 12.6 gallons of gas. The Mobil station is reserving one of its three two-pump islands for cash-only purchases. Stewart’s has not been able to offer a dual pricing system at its 271 gas stations because most stores lack enough pumps to devote an entire row of them to one form of payment. Agriculture and Markets’ Bureau of Weights an Measures requires electronic devices on gas pumps to calculate prices in front of customers as they fill up. Mailey said Stewart’s would have to upgrade the software of hundreds of pumps so they can calculate both cash and credit gas prices. Stewart’s does not consider the pump software upgrade option feasible. The company wants the state to modify the price posting regulation so it can offer the cash benefit on gas purchases, Mailey said. An Ag and Markets spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a question concerning the regulation. Jim Calvin, president of the New York State Association of Convenience Stores, said he first started noticing gas retailers offering cash payment benefits six months ago. He said retailers have experimented with dual pricing systems in the past, but those practices have often petered out after short periods. “You see [dual pricing] from time to time here and there. It does seem to be more common now than before because of prices and credit card fees,” Calvin said.
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