FROM EVESUN TODAY VINNIE
OXFORD – Rumors of a local land coalition losing out on a $70 million
lease because the natural gas company feared drilling would be banned
in New York are prompting land owners and other pro-drillers to rally
in Albany.

“Sign up to rally in Albany or kiss N.Y. natural gas exploration
goodbye,” stated Oxford Land Group President Bryant Latourette in a
press release issued last night. Though Latourette was unavailable for
comment this morning, the leader of the Central New York Landowners
Coalition, Richard Lasky, confirmed that the lost lease was “local.”

“I heard that the company didn’t think it was a good idea to invest
money in New York State where they might not be able to drill,” Lasky
said.

The two coalitions, along with about 28 other Southern Tier landowner
coalitions, anticipate being well represented at the January 25 rally
in Albany.

But they won’t be without competition.

On the same day, environmentalist groups from the Upper Delaware Basin
Watershed, the Delaware and Susquehanna River Systems, the Catskill
Forest Preserve and the New York City Watershed are also planning to
rally in the state’s capital. The groups will demand that Governor
Paterson delay the rush to drill in the Catskills, Central New York
and the Southern Tier.