Living in Dryden

Because redistricting wasn't complicated enough

U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpe has ordered that New York State have a June 26th primary. Since we still don't even have congressional district maps, this will be complicated.

(I think a June primary is a good idea generally, and hope the state accepts its wisdom. We'll see how it works this year, however.)

National Guard send-off Sunday, January 29th, 2:00pm

It wasn't that long ago that Army National Guard Company D, of the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry, was deployed from the Ithaca Armory on Hanshaw Road, and now they're heading out again:

The soldiers going to Kuwait are expected to deploy in April.

The soldiers expect to be on federal active duty for up to 12 months, but the Army continues to review and reduce forces needed overseas. Some soldiers may be released sooner than the one-year deployment timeline if the Army makes further changes to the mission.

Current plans call for the New York Army National Guard to deploy to Kuwait soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry, which is headquartered in Utica and has elements in Morrisonville, Ogdensburg, Saranac Lake, Gloversville, Glenville, Geneseo, Ithaca, and Leeds with additional Soldiers volunteering from New York City and Long Island.

They'll be holding a ceremony at the Armory this Sunday, January 29th, at 2:00pm to honor their members as they set off. (The Ithaca Armory is at 1765 Hanshaw Road, accessible from Abbott Road on the south side of the Route 13 / Hanshaw Road intersection.)

Weather talk Saturday at Freeville Church

Via commenter Jason C, I see that meteorologist Drew Montreuil of GrotonWeather.com is giving a talk in Freeville tomorrow night:

What do snow, tornadoes and groundhogs have in common? Come to the Freeville Potluck Dinner THIS SATURDAY starting at 5:30pm! Meteorologist Drew Montreuil will be talking after dinner [7pm?] about lake effect snow, tornadoes in New York, and who is a better forecaster: himself or Punxsutawney Phil!

Yes, we have weather here

Today the weather is just unseasonably warm but seasonably dismal - but sometimes we get more dangerous weather here too.

I gave a talk last night to the Varna Volunteer Fire Company about weather disasters, exploring some of the extremes we've had here, how forecasting is getting better at predicting (some of) these things, and what people can do to help.

I've posted a PDF of When the Weather Becomes Deadly (1.5MB) if you're curious. The first half is mostly history, and the second half is more forecasting and helping forecasters.

(It's hard posting talks, because everyone seems to hold their photos too close and copyright makes the risks pretty ugly. I think this talk dodges that, though mostly because I didn't include too many photos.)

Thanks to the Dryden Town Historical Society, Elsie Gutchess, Gina Prentiss, Mike Lane, Carol Kammen, Duane Testut, and Dawn Potter for helping with the history. Thanks to Highway Superintendent Jack Bush for using his photos, and to David Makar for his ice storm photo. Thanks to the VVFC for having me, and thanks to the National Weather Service for holding Basic Spotter SKYWARN training here last year.

'Puking Man in Headdress'

I, uh, liked "Abraham Lincoln riding a vacuum cleaner" better than "Puking Man in Headdress", but yes, I have to agree that the proposed version of Dryden's Senate district:

looks like a man wearing an elaborate, feathered headdress while projectile vomiting.

Dryden, of course, is one of the projectiles. Great.

Redistricting a trainwreck as usual

I can't begin to say anything nice about this.

Proposed NYS Senate and Assembly maps.

Dryden seems to be in the same gerrymandered Senate and Assembly districts as before. (Abe Lincoln loses his hat, but that's about it. It looks like the Senate district now runs up to a split-up Auburn, too.)

"Our" legislators have no shame whatsoever. I'll dream about Governor Cuomo vetoing this nonsense, but I won't hold my breath.

Update: Proposed State Legislature maps are available.

Lots happening, and questioning home rule

As always, Dryden Town Talk is a must-read.

I guess State Senator Jim Seward's earlier comments about home rule didn't sit well with the Dryden Safe Energy Coalition folks. Tracy Marisa (of One of Nine and webmaster of the DSEC) writes to argue that local government should stay out of the drilling conversation.

I never thought I'd see the day when Republicans would argue that New York State regulation was the conservative solution and that the DEC was our reliable guardian. Somehow, though, that's been the story for the past six months or so.

I guess that makes Texas, where home rule is just a given in the drilling conversation, a bunch of crazy hippies, and not just in Austin.

Update: And the pro-fracking forces are even praising the President. Maybe "forget the local, forget the State. This should be federal!" will be coming soon to Dryden?

Gas drilling may not make economic sense right now

Not that it makes the local battle any less important, but I've had a hard time for a while believing that the rush to drill here made much economic sense. It's not that I question there being gas here, but the prospects seemed badly oversold.

Today the estimates for the recoverable gas in the Marcellus fell in another estimate, from last year's 410 trillion cubic feet to the EIA's current 141 trillion cubic feet. Chesapeake, one of the most visible of the gas companies, is cutting back its production in the face of ever-lower gas prices. (Futures are down to $2.32 per 1000 cubic feet.)

It's hard for me to make sense of the enthusiasm of the "let's drill now" crowd, when gas seems to be so abundant that you can't make the money back drilling new wells. I think, though, that I finally found an explanation that works. Oil prices, unlike natural gas prices, are still historically high, and this has a side effect for natural gas:

Large amounts of natural gas are produced in conjunction with the production of hydraulically fractured shale oil and in association with conventional oil drilling. Given the price differential between oil and gas at present many companies have changed their focus to shale oil or liquids rich shale gas to enhance economic returns. Although much associated gas in the production of shale oil is simply flared, as in the Bakken play in North Dakota, much is also produced into the market even at current low prices.

As that article makes very clear, the decline rates on shale gas and shale oil wells are very fast, so this situation won't last forever. I'm guessing, though, that even if New York State gave drillers everything they claim they want in the dSGEIS, we wouldn't see an army of drilling rigs crossing the border the first day it was legal. I suspect we'd see some test wells to see how things look, and then a wait for gas prices to climb to a level where drilling these intensive and expensive wells is profitable.

Given that, I suspect the gas companies are quite pleased with the delays in New York. It lets them argue that the leases they bought cheaply should be extended while they wait for prices to go up, and gives them a story to tell impatient investors who thought they'd have the money by now. Their lawsuits and lobbying are still important - after all, they want to be able to get to New York's gas in the long run, and they have a core group of dedicated supporters pushing hard now. It's much harder to put that kind of enthusiasm on hold and bring it back later than to sustain resistance.

Overall, though, I can't help thinking that the gas companies' outrage at New York State's delays is theater meant for Wall Street and a few politicians. Some days I wonder if Dryden is stuck as a bit player in a pump-and-dump stock swindle, forced to defend itself against projects whose value is far less certain than the costs.

Lanterns pause for a while

With the higher temperatures, my count of ice lanterns plunged. I couldn't make new ones, and last night there were only five worth trying. I cleaned up the remains this morning - not much left!

Ice lantern stubs.

Sunday night looks like the next possible time to make any lanterns, and even that's kind of iffy.

Bringing the Dryden ban conversation to Albany

It's good to see that DRAC got up to Albany:

A Dryden banner visiting the legislature. (Provided by Judith Pierpont.)

The Ithaca Journal has more on the lobbying day.

I liked it better when this data stayed in Dryden

at the former NYSEG headquarters, rather than spreading because of:

an employee at an independent software development consulting firm who allowed unauthorized access to one of the companies' customer information systems. The customer records contain Social Security numbers, dates of birth and, in some cases, financial institution account numbers.

Of course, the data may have been just as unprotected before NYSEG was bought out - at least I don't think we heard of any breaches. A year of credit monitoring service from a company that I'm sure will hope to sell us continuing credit monitoring services doesn't really make things better.

Want to know more? Here's the letter you'll likely be getting, the press release, and the frequently asked questions (FAQ). It sounds to me like it was their main billing data, though I'd love to be wrong and find out that it was a smaller subset.

Let's hope they do a better job with natural gas than they do with personal information.

Public finance fine print

I haven't spent that much time looking at the intricacies of school budgets over the past few years. Dryden Daily KAZ has, and tells a painful story of rising expenses New York State only shifts around instead of addressing.

A good night for lanterns

The weather's been tricky since I first started making ice lanterns, but tonight's cold and low winds are about perfect. I've also gotten a little better at making them.

The main problem I've had is that candles melt everything around them, or just melt to the bottom, get put out by water, and then freeze into the lantern again. That makes it really hard to reuse the lanterns, as the old candle is usually inconvenient.

To deal with that, I've added 1/2" drain holes. They may fill eventually, but they'll at least let a lot of water out first. I've also added silicone pieces (cut from a baking tray liner) below the candles. They make it a lot easier to get the candle level, and should keep the candle from melting through the ice below. (I might be able to use tea lights in metal cups with that too. I'm not sure.)

Silicone under the candle.

New lantern shining on a stump by the driveway.

Even the old, imperfect, and sometimes downright weird ones can be beautiful, though.

Old lanterns, molded by warmth and rain.

Four old and two new lanterns.

Next year, I think I'll explore some of these suggestions for making bigger and better ones.

When the Weather Becomes Deadly

I'll be giving a talk at the Varna Volunteer Fire Company next Thursday, January 26th, at 7:30pm, on local weather, weather forecasting, and their relationship to emergency services. I'm planning to start with a look at some of Dryden's past weather disasters, and then explore what current weather forecasting can do (and can't do).

We like to think that we live in a place where the weather is always interesting but rarely extreme. While it's true that we don't have hurricanes coming on shore here or large bursts of tornadoes, we still do have hurricanes, tornados, blizzards, freezing rain, hail, microbursts, floods, high winds, heat waves, and more. This area combines huge microclimate variations with a mix of weather coming from the interior of North America, the Arctic, and the Atlantic.

A key part of the talk will be exploring ways to get (and interpret) weather information and ways to give back weather information. The vast amount of weather information available today is fantastic, but it also has limitations. Those limitations are both warnings to us to use it cautiously and an opportunity for us to help contribute.

The talk is a training talk, but free and open to the public. It'll be about a 45-minute talk with additional time for questions and discussion.

(I'm a supporting member of the VVFC, and they had me take a Weather Spotter class last spring, which spurred my interest.)

Dryden Cafe annual meeting next Monday

As they come up on four years, the Dryden Community Center Cafe will be having its annual meeting:

Happy New Year to all Cafeteers!

The 2012 Annual Meeting of the Dryden Community Center Cafe', Inc. will take place at the Cafe on Monday, January 23rd, 2012, starting at 7:00 pm. Please come and catch up with Cafe news and planning, and if you are a member (or if you cleverly start or renew your membership upon your arrival at the Annual Meeting) then you are eligible to vote for the four open positions in our nine-member Board of Directors.

Who is running for the Board? Perhaps you will be! Our nominating committee is seeking additional people who are interested in a two-year stint on the Cafe Board of Directors. If you are interested in joining the Board, or would like to suggest somebody else, please contact Evan Kurtz, chair of the nominating committee, at 423-2693 or by email at evantracykurtz@gmail.com.

Membership remains only $10.00 for individuals or $20.00 for couples/families. There are few perks, honestly, other than voting for directors, occasional members' events, and that warm feeling that you get inside. But you will be a part of a successful not-for-profit community cafe adventure that against all odds is celebrating its fourth birthday this year.* Of course, nobody is more a part of the Cafe than our amazing corps of volunteers. Please remember the Cafe if you have a bit of spare time and want to spend it among friends and friends to be, whether baking, behind the counter, fixing things or sprucing them up, or contributing your own particular talents in whatever way you and we can envision. Regular or occasional volunteers are both warmly welcomed. Please talk with our manager Suzanne at the counter, or any Board member, or just reply to Suzanne's Cafe email 1westmain@gmail.com, and we will point you in the right direction. Thanks for all that you do, and see you at the Cafe!

*Actually, this year is really our first birthday, if you count from our first day of business on 29 February 2008.

Robertson elected legislature chair

Two weeks after a 7-7 deadlock that withstood nine separate votes, a slightly different set of 14 legislators voted Martha Robertson chair by a 9-5 vote over fellow Dryden legislator Mike Lane. The county's press release tells the story:

The Legislature overcame repeated deadlock at its last meeting two weeks ago, and reelected Martha Robertson (D - District 13, Dryden) to her third year as Legislature Chair in 2012. The Chair's position is filled each year by a majority vote of the 15 members of the Legislature and is responsible for overseeing all Legislative functions.

While the Legislature at its last meeting voted nine times but failed to reach a decision because of repeated, 7-7 tie votes, tonight's decision came by a single ballot, with 9 Legislators voting for Robertson and 5 for Mike Lane (D - District 14-Dryden). Voting for Robertson were Legislators Pat Pryor, Jim Dennis, Will Burbank, Peter Stein, Dooley Kiefer, Nathan Shinagawa, Robertson, Carol Chock (who had been excused from the last meeting), and Brian Robison, who changed his vote from the previous rounds two weeks ago. Voting for Lane were Legislators Pam Mackesey, Frank Proto, Leslyn McBean-Clairborne, Dave McKenna, and Lane. Legislator Kathy Luz Herrera, who had voted for Lane the last time, was excused from tonight's meeting.

Congratulating Robertson on her election, Lane said he believes this year's leadership process was valuable, that the more the process is open to public view, the better it is for everyone. Chair Robertson told her colleagues she looks forward to working extremely hard with them in the year ahead.

For Vice Chair, five candidates were nominated: Legislators Jim Dennis, Will Burbank, Peter Stein, Frank Proto, and Kathy Luz Herrera. In one ballot, results were split--with 5 votes for Proto, 4 for Burbank, 2 each for Dennis and Stein, and 1 for Luz Herrera. In comments before the ballot, several legislators commented on the importance of the person in the Vice Chair position to serve as a complement to the Chair. After the single Vice Chair ballot, Legislators voted 12-2 to postpone the decision until the Legislature's next meeting February 7. Last year's Vice Chair, Dooley Kiefer, will continue to serve until a new Vice Chair is elected.

Somehow the press release, while containing fewer quotes, seems to tell more than the Ithaca Journal story.

Also worth watching: Congressman Maurice Hinchey announced his retirement. Combine that with general redistricting, and the political boundaries of all kinds are a lot more fluid than usual. (Hinchey represented Dryden before the 2002 redistrictring, but Richard Hanna is our current Congressman.)

Weatherizing mobile homes

It can be a hard thing to do, with some specific issues that aren't always obvious. Cooperative Extension will be having a program on the 30th:

WEATHERIZATION OF MOBILE HOMES

January 30, 2012 @ 6:30 PM at the VARNA COMMUNITY CENTER (943 Dryden Road / Hamlet of Varna)

Topics that will be covered:

• Sealing Air Leaks - Products to use

• Sealing Ductwork and Registers

• Furnace Maintenance

• Skirting Issues

• Tips to Reduce Drafts

• Tips to Save Energy

• What Not to Use and Why

Brought to you by: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County and Tompkins Community Action

If you plan to attend, please call Sue @ 272 8919.

Questions? Call Carole Fisher at CCE-Tompkins, (607) 272-2292.

Closed for SOPA and PIPA

Yes, this may seem far from Dryden, but if SOPA (H.R. 3261), PIPA (S. 968), or something similar passes, you may not be able to read the existing Living in Dryden site much longer, and I'd have to write anything new in a very different way or risk getting shut down for copyright violations.

Unfortunately, Dryden's Congressman, Richard Hanna, seems to believe that commercial speech should be welcome to trample over plain old free speech. It's not just Republicans, either - both of our Democratic Senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, support the Senate version, PIPA. Schumer's office seems to enjoy being rude about it, too.

SOPA is sort of kind of on the shelf, slightly defanged, but PIPA still has debate scheduled for later this month.

I agree with the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

This bill, and its House counterpart, cannot be fixed -- they must be killed.

Wonder what it's all about? Try this, or this, or watch this.

I do think piracy is a real issue, as another Dryden publisher eloquently explains. I just don't think it's a good idea to make the Internet deeply fragile in order to protect a small crowd of businesses who already have plenty of power and money, but not much business model, as my co-worker put it.

Want to help keep American laws sane and sites like this one (and many many more) available? Write or call:

Normal service will resume Thursday. Until then, I've censored (most of) the pieces that might lead to this site vanishing under SOPA or PIPA.

Update: I'm glad to see One of Nine with a banner about SOPA and PIPA across its top, and Dryden Daily KAZ with a piece opposed to it as well. Like KAZ, I make my living with intellectual property, but this law goes way too stupidly far.

Update 2: Senator Gillibrand tweeted:

Thx for your views on #PIPA. I agree there are real concerns with the current legislation & I'm working to make impt changes to the bill.

We must work to strike a balance btw ending online piracy to protect #NY #jobs & ensuring Internet freedom so our tech commty can flourish.

But what that actually means in terms of action, I have no idea. 140 characters does make it tricky to say, though.

Update 3: Hanna's now trying to sound mushy, as are Schumer and Gillibrand. We'll see.

What's going on with New York State redistricting?

Tompkins County may be about done with its independent redistricting process, but New York State lumbers on slowly toward new districts for the State Senate, Assembly, and Congressional seats. Basically, no one has a good idea what the final lines will look like for the New York State Assembly and Senate, or for Congress.

If the process continues as usual, through LATFOR, the Democratic Assembly will draw the Assembly lines, the Republican Senate will draw the Senate lines, and everyone will scramble over the Congressional lines. It's pretty much a classic New York parody filled with self-dealing and lobbyists, and County Legislator Mike Lane was right to call it corrupt a few months ago.

Governor Cuomo has said he'll veto redistricting that isn't independently done, but he's said it more quietly lately, a veto override is at least conceivable, and the courts may or may not want to get involved. There could be some kind of jointly appointed commission, though the head of the Assembly's work on redistricting is uninterested in such suggestions It's not clear. Maybe it'll be part of a budget deal? The timing is similar.

That's in some extra chaos right now because Republicans have claimed they should create a 63rd seat. The math and constitutional questions on that are pretty mind-boggling, and will likely go through the courts.

If you'd like more, including tools for drawing up your own maps, Common Cause's Citizens Redistricting Commission is pretty much the place to look for information on redistricting. They've posted "Reform Maps" in particular. Those could become important if these issues get resolved by a judge in an hurry to have lines in time for the elections.

To see what's at stake, you might compare their Senate map (using 62 seats, since no one seemed to guess 63 before the Republicans claimed it) with an unofficial pass at what a 63-seat NY Senate might look like if drawn to give Republicans maximum advantage. Even that definitely gerrymandered map manages to be a little less weird than the current lines, losing our current "Abraham Lincoln riding a vacuum cleaner" Senate seat.

The best way I know to describe the situation is "completely cloudy", and I have no idea how or if they'll resolve it before it's time to start the election process. We'll see!

Update: The Congressional redistricting conversation just changed a bit with Congressman Hinchey announcing his retirement. Dryden used to be in his district, then shifted to Boehlert / Arcuri / Hanna in 2002. Hinchey's current district is a strange reach from the Hudson to Ithaca. Here's more about the possibilities, and why they may scare area Republicans.

Update 2: And here's a New York Times piece that opens with the challenges of running for State Senate when you don't know what district you'll be in.

Polite jousting over legislative Chair

While redistricting seems unlikely to make a drastic difference in Dryden, two Dryden County Legislators are making competing cases about how the Legislature should run and came to a deadlock at the beginning of the year.

This morning's Ithaca Journal has two Guest Viewpoints, one from each legislator:

• Martha Robertson (incumbent Chair) - Rotating committee chairs not the best way to govern county

• Michael Lane - All legislators deserve chance to run committees

The legislature meets tonight to try to sort things out, and it sounds like there may also be multiple candidates for the Vice Chair position.

The SPCA will have a free rabies clinic Wednesday night from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.

Looking beyond Dryden's borders, Governor Cuomo's initial budget won't include funds for managing hydrofracking. I'd be cautious about reading that as "no permits will be issued in 2012," but it makes it less likely. Meanwhile, more electric generation plants are moving to natural gas from coal. (It sounds like Cornell's plant did that too.)

So what changes in local redistricting?

Much to my surprise, I got a couple of questions over the weekend about the redistricting for the Tompkins County Legislature. I'm guessing they both originated with this article in the Ithaca Journal.

As that article notes, the Independent Redistricting Commission will be holding two public hearings on the proposals, at "5:30 p.m. Jan. 31 in the Dryden Town Hall, and 5:30 p.m. Feb. 9 at the Tompkins County Public Library".

For Dryden, the changes are fairly minor. The key map, the one selected (1.6MB PDF), shows small changes of territory among the three existing districts that contain pieces of Dryden. (You can compare them with the map of the current districts (2.3MB PDF)).

Most of the changes are in the north, between Caswell and Malloryville roads. You can see the shift in the following two maps.

Current district boundaries near Freeville.

Proposed district boundaries near Freeville.

The western district moves east from Caswell Road to Route 38, the Village of Freeville boundary, and Route 366. The northeastern district, which includes all of Groton and an eastern edge of Lansing, expands west from West Malloryville Road to Ed Hill Road.

On the southern edge, the eastern district moves slightly west, to include some voters on Midline Road.

Current district boundaries near Slaterville Springs.

Proposed district boundaries near Slaterville Springs.

The general rules were that districts had to stay within a 10% variation from the absolute average. All of the proposed Dryden districts are around 4.5% below the average, which means that Dryden will have slightly more sway in the county legislature than it should have. Under the old maps, the 2010 census indicated that the Groton/McLean district had fallen from 3.41% over to less than 1% over the average, the western Dryden district fell from 0.6% to 1.8% under, and the eastern Dryden district was almost 8% over the average after starting 3% over.

The biggest change in the overall picture is the reduction in the size of the legislature. Instead of 15 legislators, the next legislature, to be elected in 2013, will only have 14. This made it possible for the districts to cleanly separate the Town and City of Ithaca.

The full map page includes a lot of other possibilities. If you want to see what might have been,wander through the ones that don't have the orange arrow!

Winter gardening classes start Tuesday

The Dryden Community Garden isn't letting winter slip by unused:

When and Where:
Tuesday January 17
Tuesday February 21
Tuesday March 20
6:30 - 8:00 pm
Dryden Community Center Cafe, 1 West Main st.

What and Who:
January's class will be all about Dryden Community Garden's group seed order from Fedco Seeds. Last year was our first group order and it went very well for everyone - we got a 20% discount! There are many reasons to choose Fedco Seeds, including, "Welcome to Fedco Seeds, your source for cold-hardy selections especially adapted to our demanding Northeast climate. Each year we observe hundreds of varieties, selecting only the best for inclusion in our catalogs. Through our product lines and cultural hints, we encourage sustainable growing methods. We offer a large selection of certified organic cultivars and regional heirloom varieties. We buy products from all over the world."

Join us this month to learn how to place your order either online or using Fedco's lovely paper catalog and placing a handwritten order with us. We will also talk about the idea many people have had for having a seed and plant exchange club.

February's class is Planning a Garden, very good for the new gardeners who are unsure of what and how much to grow, when to plant, how much space they will need, what challenges to expect and how to handle them. This will partly be a Q&A type group so we really hope that experienced gardeners join us to share their knowledge.

For March we'll be having the Big Spring Community Garden Sign-up where Jean and Kerra and other garden members can answer questions about the community garden, we can share ideas, voice problems encountered last year, etc. We'd also like to get some ideas for future classes.

Also, we have a class topic we'd like to cover but are still looking for a speaker. There have been some questions lately about what different labels mean on foods, seeds and household items. What are the different Fair Trade certifications, Organic, Natural, All Natural, Certified Organic by____, etc. ? We would call the topic Understanding Eco Labels. Yeah, that sounds good. Now I just need to find someone to answer our questions.

Why:
To teach and learn and meet new people, to build connections in the community, to have organic air-popped popcorn with nutritional yeast and sea salt (or plain, or bring your own topping), to have locally grown and/or wild harvested herbal teas, to get out on a Tuesday night, to be part of the great, beautiful, wonderful thing that is our community and our food.

And:
All ages are welcome, there are toys and books for little ones.
Donations are gratefully accepted to help us cover the cost of materials, snacks, and advertising.

Senator Jim Seward on a conservative approach

I was delighted to see State Senator Jim Seward's recent guest column, Home rule laws aren't a radical idea. I agree with him: they're deeply conservative:

Home rule is a conservative position that democratically elected local governments, closest to the people, decide what's appropriate for their communities -- as they do with other commercial and residential uses.

Not only that, home rule makes as much sense for gas drilling as it does for any other activity:

For some to claim that my home rule legislation will make it more difficult for gas drillers to deal with a crazy quilt of local rules and regulations, I say this: first, drilling companies are used to it; and second, reluctance to do business in New York may have more to do with the price of natural gas or our geology.

At the end of the state's now three-year-plus process, New York will have greater uniformity than other 'home rule' states. My legislation offers nothing out of the ordinary where gas drilling is concerned.

One argument against my legislation is that local governments are not equipped to review applications or respond to the submissions of multi-national gas drilling companies.

To be clear, home rule does not authorize local governments to regulate how natural gas drilling is conducted, but where it is permitted, much like town zoning rules establishing where someone can operate a slaughterhouse, a gas station or any other commercial use. The state would continue to review drilling applications and be responsible for the issuance of permits.

Thank you Senator Seward, for expressing this so clearly, and for continuing to push these ideas in a State Senate whose leadership is not always so supportive.