Carol Woodmansee, who reported throughout the day on the bus trip to the Department of Energy hearing, has some final observations on the event from her landowner perspective.  It was eye-opener for her and others and demonstrates what we are up against in fighting the anti-gas special interests, (but, make no mistake, we are beating them).  Here are Carol’s reflections:

We outnumbered the anti’s by about 3-1.

They did a number of dog & pony shows, a few chants, a few songs…but the speeches given by the pros far outdid the hysteria of the anti’s. Susan Dorsey from Binghamton, NY gave a speech about bringing our boys home from Iraq. It was a sensitive talk that brought a tear to the eye.

Susan’s fellow JLCNY member, Victor Furman presented a speech about how the people in our country have always been achievers and how we are a ‘CAN DO’ country.

There were several  young men who spoke who said they had to leave the area of Washington, PA because there was no work. Once gas drilling came into the area,they returned home and were able to find gainful employment with  gas companies. A young female electrician said she did work for the gas companies, that they paid her well, and that she was very proud to have this job in her home town.

Several business owners spoke and said their businesses went from seasonal to year around.  In fact, everyone we ran into seemed happy and proud of the gas company opportunities they were experiencing.   Geologists spoke for drilling, de-bunking  the lies that Josh Fox spews.

Josh Fox turned up late at the meeting. Probably too late to talk, but that didn’t stop him.  We were told that someone from his group took a sign- up sheet, re-numbered it, and placed it ahead of the pile. So, he ended up speaking  ahead of others who stood in line at the door two hours waiting to sign in. They had a monitor with the list, but she allowed it to happen.

Fox has a regular cult following. He and his little ‘band of the brain-washed’ looked like they just crawled out of a coal mine…unkempt and filthy. What is with that?  There was one straggly man who held up $5 every time a pro-driller spoke. I wished later that I had told him he should spend it on a bath and a haircut. I wonder if Fox is hiring people who live on the street to act as his adoring little followers. I kid you not…they were grimy.

John and I spoke on the unemployment in Wayne County; and how Carol Collier has had 4 years to do her job and has failed. We drove home how serious this was to our local economy. We pleaded with the DOE board to use their influence to get her fired; and bring gas drilling to the DRB. I don’t know if it means anything, but one of the DOE panelists made a notation while we talked.

One woman spoke and said she had suffered breast cancer and had both breasts removed. I don’t know why that had anything to do with this meeting, unless she was trying to say fracking could cause cancer. During her speech she proudly displayed some glorious bared cleavage  for everyone to see. I suppose they were replacements.

A Pittsburgh politician named Shields, stood up and said he stopped all gas well drilling in the Pittsburgh area. He got a screaming applause from the antis.  After the meeting, a woman from the Pittsburgh suburbs stopped me and asked how she could get a property owners group together like the NWPOA. She said Shields simply stopped gas drilling and there was never a hearing, or any consulting with the property owners. One day they owned rights to their property, the next day they didn’t.

In summary, I believe the meeting was positive and we learned quite a bit.