Thumbs up and down for 2008

Looking over the past year, we were happy to find plenty of newsmakers worthy of acclamation, and a few that ought to be deplored.

The biggest single challenge facing the area last year was the advent of natural gas drilling, and the local response to that challenge for the most part deserves a big thumbs-up. Kudos go to towns in Sullivan County that pushed for more home rule authority over drilling, with Tusten and Callicoon, for example, sending resolutions to Albany asking for more authority over road damage and fracking fluid storage. In another instance of local leadership, Highland supervisor Tina Palecek formed a gas-drilling task force to evaluate the impact on a range of areas including roads, the environment and school population.

New York Senator John Bonacic is to be commended for legislation that he introduced that would, among other things, allow towns to declare a six-month moratoria on drilling, require drilling companies to post bonds to cover damage by gas trucks and require fracking fluids to be contained in closed containers. And Pennsylvania Senator Lisa Baker is to be lauded for her efforts to demand that the contents of fracking fluid be made public.

The grass-roots response has also been commendable. Organizations like Damascus Citizens for Sustainability have done an outstanding job both of informing local citizens and of engaging their participation. With an important caveat, we also commend groups like the Northern Wayne and Delaware-Sullivan property owners associations, which favor signing leases with gas drilling companies, but believe they must join forces to ensure that they get a square deal. Unfortunately, we suspect that even associations of property owners will not have the power to prevent the companies from violating the terms of leases, no matter how carefully negotiated. We appreciate their community spirit but question their wisdom.

We have not been as impressed by agencies like the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), whose job is purportedly to protect the environment, but both of which have issued public statements that their policy should be to facilitate drilling. However, the DEP picked up its efforts toward the end of the year, publishing a list of fracking chemicals, resisting efforts to get it to accelerate the permitting process, and saying it intends to address its staff shortage. Governor Rendell gets a clear thumbs-down for his attempts to divert the money coming from gas drilling permits on state lands to balance the overall budget deficit.

But gas drilling wasn’t the only issue at hand. When it comes to stewardship of the environment, there is a lot of praise to go around: for Sullivan County’s decision to set up a sustainable energy office; for the grass-roots movement to reduce or eliminate the use of plastic bags, including individuals like 16-year-old Erica Vorstadt of Barryville, NY; and for the Town of Bethel’s green resolution “supporting a community transition to sustainable development,” to name a few. The Town of Callicoon makes it to the thumbs-up list for its proposal to adopt solar technology for town buildings; unfortunately, this effort was stymied by three board members who voted against the idea despite the fact that grants would have paid for it. A big and bewildered thumbs-down to them.

As the economy weakens, we offer special appreciation to those who have united the community to help one another through hard times, including, among many others, the Sullivan County town clerks, who ran a special holiday food drive and the Pike/Wayne Community potluck, which holds community potlucks where all can eat whether they bring food or not, with an opportunity to swap used goods like toys and Halloween costumes.

On our thumbs down list: New York Regional Interconnect, for requesting a ratepayer-guaranteed rate of return on the power line nobody wants; Cappelli Enterprises, for asking the taxpayers of Sullivan County to assume the risk of a bond issue to make up for a capital shortfall in its project at the Concord site; and the Sullivan County Legislature’s cave-in to Ideal Snacks, when it agreed to support an Empire Zone application without an assurance that the jobs created would go to Sullivan County residents.

We would like to finish with one small affair that includes both a thumbs-up and a thumbs-down. When the Wayne County Arts Alliance attempted to place its artist-decorated benches around Wayne County, PA last fall, they could not find any businesses that would display one that depicted homelessness. A thumbs-down to the businesses that turned a blind eye to that bench and the issue it represents. And a thumbs-up to Honesdeli in Honesdale, which offered to display the bench after we printed a story on the incident. Given the current economic climate, it’s that kind of spirit, not sticking our heads in the sand, that will get us through the coming year.

Also in this issue:

• My View: New library, here’s to 2009

Dr. Punnybone

Little Black Dress