I am Dr. Scott Noren, an Oral Surgeon in Ithaca, NY. I take the attempts to do fracking type gas drilling seriously. I get my drinking water from Cayuga Lake and aim to keep it clean and safe. An aggregate of $23 million in lobbying was spent on Pennsylvania state officials and candidates by the gas industry. We can see what that bought. If you take large amounts of gas, oil, nuclear PAC money, and especially a $5000 check from Chesapeake, you would be Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. You would also take a check for $500 from Thomas West,J.D. an Albany attorney that had an alleged ex-parte-like communication with the DEC recently about getting inside information about how to make the wheels less squeaky for Chesapeake. You would be a politician who has called for only ‘safe fracking’ and according to one source, said fracking is coming here. You would also never go on the record calling for a federal ban on fracking. Even Republicans say we should frack ‘safely’. As Josh Fox testified to the State Democratic Senator Avella, there is no safe fracking.
I am for a federal ban on fracking, no matter what happens at the state levels, in any state. It is a national disaster in the making on many levels. I have been for a national ban since 2009. If elected, I will additionally call for mandatory, strict EPA waterway aquatic buffer zones for any activity that has the potential to contaminate our lakes, rivers and streams. The EPA, if you were not aware, publishes 10 ‘model ordinances to protect local resources’. Look at the Aquatic Buffers subsection of that web page. Again, this is advisory from the EPA and has no teeth. Please Google Aquatic Buffers- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
I get daily updates especially from PA anti-fracking activists. Recently, I learned of a bid by India for $12 billion worth of fracked natural gas. The whole argument that fracked gas will make us less energy dependent and, as Senator Gillibrand was quoted, it could be an economic boon to NY, is not just speculative but fallacious.
The line is drawn in the sand. One side wants to make alleged money and create jobs with a process that will result in public health problems. That’s nothing new really; Senator Gillibrand advocated building more nuclear power plants in Western NY to create jobs. There are many initiatives that could make money, but harm the public. Unlike politicians who ‘support this and that’, I’ve actually written proposed legislation for major student loan reform, a proposed jobs bill in my web site and more. Senator Gillibrand’s ‘Upstate Works Act’ in her .Gov web site never made it to committee, and the original co-sponsor, Senator Al Franken, withdrew his co-sponsorship back in 2011. Senator Schumer co-sponsored the bill in February of this year. He is the only co-sponsor and the bill is dead; which means that her claims about what it’s doing for jobs and small businesses is very misleading. When you back party-backed politicians, you sometimes make the wrong choice. It’s difficult to change course. She’s a fantastic fundraiser, and that’s a fact. I’m not challenging Wendy Long, a drill-baby-drill Republican, I’m challenging someone who was the #1 recipient of Commercial Bank lobby money in the whole U.S. Senate in 2010 and #5 now. If you can’t realize that she is nice, but a ‘fake progressive’ who used to be a Blue Dog Democrat who represented Philip Morris and the tobacco industry, then you have bought this hook, line and sinker and you will have fracking come to either NY or whatever other state they can get their claws into. The question remains whether you as a registered NY voter will have the conviction to go to my web site, download a petition and instructions, and get me on the ballot in November. The deadline is August 21st and coming up fast. If not, I wish you the best anyway. Can’t say my heart’s in the wrong place. I’m not the enemy for opposing people who have the potential to fail to aggressively protect the health, safety and quality of life of those that depend on their decisions in Congress. If you believe that an unaffiliated Progressive like myself can turn Congress away from large donors with an agenda and PAC money from corporate ‘people’ like Senator Gillibrand does so well, then I think you’ll be proud to carry my petitions.
Scott Noren, DDS
U.S. Senate candidate, 2012 (I)
www.norenforsenate.com