The actors in Park Foundation funded Slottje Road Show claims several victories over the last year in their war against natural gas development but they are pyrrhic victories, with almost none in towns having any realistic prospects for such development and one gigantic loss in the City of Binghamton where Slottje’s recommendation was thoroughly trashed by the Broome County judge hearing the case.

A year-end review is a great time to gain some perspective, especially regarding ongoing events such as the Slottje Road Show and the efforts of its funders and partisans to enact natural gas moratoria throughout Upstate New York. The majority of my past year with Energy In Depth was spent working in New York State where I reside, following the road show from town to town to document its antics and document the depth of natural gas support despite the opposition ginned up by the Park Foundation and its wealthy patrons.

The Slottje Road Show, which travels from town to town in that big Suburban David loves to drive, has been in the forefront of efforts to enact bans and moratoria, but a review of their supposed successes indicates nearly all are located either well outside or on the fringe of the natural gas region. David Slottje proudly states he has had over a hundred towns, cities, or villages jump on board of his natural gas moratorium band wagon in the last couple years. While this may sound impressive, getting many of these communities to ban natural gas development is about as meaningful as getting them to ban rubber tree plantations. Consider, too, the fact the Joint Landowners Coalition promoted a pro-gas resolution, presented it to towns actually located in the Marcellus Shale play, and had over 45 municipalities sign onto it in about three months.

Let’s take a look at the major ban/moratoria happenings this past year.

http://eidmarcellus.org/marcellus-shale/the-slottje-road-show-on-na...