The New York Times is, yet again, dishing the dirt on natural gas, this time on the prices of the dirt itself, that being Catskills area real estate, the prices of which the Times suggests are being negatively affected by the prospects of natural gas development. They couldn’t be more wrong.

A new hit piece on the natural gas industry appeared in the New York Times real estate section Thursday. It alleges prospective second-home buyers fear natural gas development ”will not only ruin the natural environment but also depress property values” and thus are avoiding inking deals. It makes this claim based on anecdotal evidence, comments from individuals such as Jennifer Canfield who are anything but neutral and a highly selective parsing of what little hard data is offered. It follows the new New York Times template, in other words.

The facts in the story and from other easily obtainable sources tell a much different story. The natural gas industry has positively affected real estate values in counties where development is most likely to occur in New York State, following the same pattern exhibited across the border in Pennsylvania.

http://eidmarcellus.org/marcellus-shale/the-times-dishes-more-dirt-...