Here & There Column 12-9-08

Everyone Should Benefit From Natural Gas Drilling

Several Sullivan County Legislators are advocating that county officials look into the possibility of having a compressed natural gas filling station established in Sullivan County and then the county could convert some of its fleet so that they could use compressed natural gas.
With natural gas drilling expected to take place in parts of Sullivan County and with the price of natural gas considerably below that of gasoline and fuel oil we firmly believe that county and state officials should insist that with the drilling comes the obligation of the drilling company and suppliers that natural gas should be made available to everyone in the county.
It's time for Sullivan County to as they say "become of age" and with the national gas deposits under our soil it should become available to all of us.
Natural gas offers great benefits and also helps ease environmental concerns such as greenhouse gas emission, smog, acid rain, water pollution and solid waste.
It's also delivered to the consumer with a total energy efficiency of about 90 percent compared with 27 percent for electricity. This product is touted as the most economical energy choice but at the present time Sullivan County residents do not have any choice or benefits.
The New York State Department of Transportation has built some 59 of these compressed natural gas filling stations with 11 of them being open to the public.
The expected gas rush for the gas in the Marcellus Shale under our soils should benefit each and everyone of us and local residents should not be cut off from the supply.
In the past companies have shown some interest in laying gas lines for national gas within Sullivan County and efforts should now be strengthened by demanding legal obligations for the new drillers and suppliers that if you want to drill here then they must also provide natural gas for our use.
Natural gas is just one part of making us less dependent on foreign oil and as long as we have it under our soil then these benefits should also be coming to us.