Post 25

Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Brainerd/Pine River MN
December 6, 2013

This evening we held the last of our gas/oil educational meetings, in partnership with Happy Dancing Turtle here in Pine River. It has been slightly below zero all day, so it was gratifying to have people turn out. The movie "Gasland" was the featured film, about the proliferation of gas wells all over the US, and attendant environmental hazards to land, air, water, and people. This particular film does not leave much to be optimistic about. While Minnesota and Wisconsin do not have large gas pools from which to extract energy, Wisconsin does have the optimal kind of sand for fracking, and Minnesota is a corridor to the Dakotas where it is used most heavily. No one escapes the impact of these industries.....on the Enbridge front, the public comment period by letter has closed (on Dec.5), but there are still public meetings to be scheduled where citizens can testify in person. We feel continuing to write political incumbents is still worth while.....I received a reply from Joshua Stevenson, Cass County Land Commissioner to a letter about the county possibly passing a moratorium  on  pipeline expansion. In it he says that on September 9, there was a CC Board Meeting, in which a motion passed to "respectfully decline endorsing any pipe line routes and report the same to Carlton County and Enbridge Energy, LLC." We think this could be overridden by the State....Meantime, the plot thickens: On December 5, the last day for written comments, Kennicott filed a holding request, as they say they have some prior leases on land Enbridge is negotiating for.....now that calls up some pictures! It would be funny if it didn't affect all of us one way or another....There is another film available on hydraulic fracturing and natural gas, called "Split Estate." It is available to netflix users for instant viewing; we will soon have a copy to share as well.

Next meeting is a planning meeting on December 11 at Lakes Latte in Pequot Lakes at 11:30. The next service will be on December 14 at Arbor Glen at 11, followed by a seasonal concert in Brainerd. The annual Solstice Meeting will be on December 21st at Barb's home in Pine River. For questions or comments, contact Pat or Mary.

Submitted by Mary DeYoung, News Director 218-587-2543