I had the pleasure of attending my first Joint Landowner’s Coalition of NY meeting last night in Binghamton. Finally able to put some faces to some names of people with whom I’ve traded a lot of emails over these past few weeks. Have to say, for a Monday night, I was very impressed with the number of folks who came, including some other first-timers like myself. Thank you all for welcoming me so warmly! I can’t wait to work with you more in the future!

The meeting was not only a great opportunity for me to get to know some of the people involved in the JLC, but it was also pretty darn in informative in its own right. Stu Gruskin, former Deputy Executive Commissioner of NY DEC, was the guest speaker and took the time to answer some questions from the landowners in attendance. His biggest message to get out there is that landowners have to appear often in the public face and with a UNIFIED voice because they are the most directly impacted by anything that happens. He urged the JLC to continue to have a presence, don’t get frustrated and be full participants in the debate over natural gas development. He discussed how much of the coverage in the newspapers is very anti, even though recent polling from Marist Univ. suggests that the divide is closer to 50-50. NY is not an “anti state,” it is a state that needs more information and quick! While he is no longer involved with the DEC, he did offer some projections for when he thinks permitting may happen. He does not believe companies will be able to start getting permits until next spring; however, he says this is a good thing that will allow landowners time to better educate the state, stop the hysteria and get more substance and facts out to the public. If you have the opportunity to go to an event where Gruskin will be speaking, I strongly urge you to take advantage of it.

The meeting was also a time for the JLC to discuss some upcoming events that they need to get supporters out to. Check out our Facebook page Energy In Depth-Northeast Marcellus Initiative for all of the details on those and other events!