The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has caved to the anti-drillers who are screaming for more time to read the 800-page draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (dSGEIS)–the proposed new drilling regulations all drillers in New York would have to follow when drilling in the Marcellus Shale. They’ve added another 30 days to the “comment period” which is really nothing more than an extra 30 days for the anti-drillers to try and prevent drilling in New York. No worries, drilling is coming and they can’t stop it.

It never ceases to amaze me how biased the coverage of this issue is, even by local media outlets. For example, Tom Wilbur, reporter for the Press & Sun-Bulletin, includes this short narrative in a story reporting on the extension of the comment period (Debate on drilling rules extended by DEC):

The 800-plus page technical document is simply too big for many stakeholders, including municipal officials, to process and respond to in a short period, said Stan Scobie, a Binghamton resident and industry watcher.

“It’s becoming extraordinarily clear that people – grass roots groups, landowners, lawyers, municipal officials, just about everybody – needs time to come to grips with this issue,” he said.

And that’s all we know about good old Stan. You might think from the description that he’s just a local bumpkin from Binghamton who keeps a sharp eye on this issue. An “everyman” if you will, only interested in the common good for all citizens. What Mr. Wilbur doesn’t tell you (even though he knows it), is that Stanley Scobie, Ph.D., is a retired professor of psychology at Binghamton University and a hard core leftist Democrat. Prof. Scobie contributed $8,950 to Democrats in 2008, including money for Obama, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Kirsten Gillibrand (New York Senator), Michael Arcuri (New York Congressman), and Al Franken–the comedian/writer of pornography who became a U.S. Senator from Minnesota (via voter fraud). All of them far, far left. (Check out Prof. Scobie’s 2008 contributions here.)

In fact, Prof. Scobie wrote an anti-drilling article in the spring issue of the Sierra Atlantic, the Sierra Club’s regional magazine. In other words, he’s as anti-drilling as they come. But not a peep about that from Mr. Wilbur, the so-called “impartial reporter” who writes about the Marcellus drilling issue for the P&SB. Perhaps a little honesty by the media about their own personal biases and prejudices would be nice for change?

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