The Fight Over LP Gas Storage At Seneca Lake Location Getting Nastier

The polarization over gas storage in old salt caverns around and under Seneca Lake here in upstate NY continues and seems to be getting worse as both sides dig in and try to make their position heard by people in decision making positions. That's ok to a point. It's what free speech and political processes are all about. But 'to a point' is the issue here.

Facts, or 'my facts vs your facts' seem to have taken over in the latest conversations. Some of this may be the result of a recent election in the Town of Reading where a number of folks opposed to the project ran and lost against incumbents and people in support of the project. The campaign allowed lots of people to voice opinions in letters to the editor that liked to take swipes at people vs issues. In that process the facts flew from both sides based on their position. All of that has continued after the election.

And then there's the national conversation and attitudes that are going on in the Presidential campaign and in protests in the street over police conduct, racism on college campuses, immigration, refugees and terrorism. Everything is beginning to collide and what seems to be a vacuum in leadership is allowing values to be redefined and hatred to become acceptable. An environment like this is not conducive to conversation and debate. It is becoming acceptable for people protesting to be thrown out of political rallies while being kicked and punched on the way to the exit. It has become acceptable for people to mock people with disabilities during campaign speeches. We are actually having conversations about registering people of specific religions and keeping people of certain ethnic backgrounds out of our country. Within the past few weeks, hundreds of people were shot in Paris. This past week a number of protesters in this country were shot during a demonstration of Black Lives Matter.

I lay all of this out because it really gives a sense of how badly we seem to be doing in terms of civil dialogue and civility in general. It also brings me back to the conversation about Seneca Lake. Facts and misinformation seem to be thrown around interchangeably. They sometimes become entwined and confused and hard to follow. Both sides are easily angered and frustrated. The process of approving or disapproving the project by public officials seems to be taking a very long time. I've concluded myself, quite some time ago, that this project is not in the best interest of Seneca Lake or the many thousands of people living around her or the many others who enjoy her beauty and recreational bounty.

This weekend, people opposed to the gas storage project, have been invited to march through the streets of Watkins Glen on Sunday, Nov. 29th, in solidarity with international Climate Marches throughout the world. I was extremely disappointed to see that an elected Schuyler County official, a county Legislator and former Undersheriff, posted a pretty awful comment on the march sponsor's Facebook page. After the announcement inviting people to join the march, he posted a comment that people should remember that Saturday was the beginning of deer hunting season. To make matters worse, another elected official, a NYS Assemblyman, has suggested that this fellow should get an award for 'poking fun' at these people. That's where we seem to be at this point. People talking about guns and protests and attempts at intimidation and excusing it as humor. It was a stupid and irresponsible comment by one official, followed by another.

It's an example of how nasty the conversation has gotten recently. It can happen on both sides of any issue and I would encourage everyone to tone it down. There are people who may take words like this too seriously. Try to be respectful of the opposition and don't encourage or let hate speech take over. In the meantime, my plan is to show up and join many others in the march through Watkins Glen. People will be wearing orange to signify both safety and the emergency that confronts Seneca Lake.