There is the saying that shows up over and over again “Not In My Back Yard”. This is the call of everybody that has to deal with something they don’t like showing up in their neighborhood. Be it a new gun store or a new Whole Foods store, somebody doesn’t want it there.
One of the greatest contribution to clean energy has been pipelines. The ability to move vast amounts of liquid long distances safely is wonderful. And ever pipeline built in my lifetime has had some large group of people screaming NIMBY!!!
The first time I heard and understood was with the Alaska Pipeline. Environmentalists were very concerned over the pipeline. It was going to destroy the tundra. It was going to damage the pristine Alaskan great outdoors. It was going to cause massive kills of the migratory herd animals.
It was Bad with a capital B!
The first thing that we found when we started using it is that the animals love it. There has been no negative outcomes from the pipeline amongst the herd animals nor in the hunters. They put in some underpasses along the way and the animals found and use them. Easy.
There was a huge concern about “what if there is a leak?” Well the pipeline is inspected constantly. If there are any signs of leakage it is dealt with as soon as it is spotted. The control systems can tell when the pipe starts to leak, even before any signs are noticed.
And here is the big one, IF there is a leak, it will be contained. We know where the pipeline is and it was built to contain spills. And if there is a spill, it is still much more likely to be small in comparison to other spills.
If you want to think about scary spills, just take a look at a freight train pulling 100+ tanker cars.
Each one of those tankers can hold up 31,000 gallons, or more. Derailments are much more common than pipeline leaks. Tankers hauled by trucks contain less but are even more likely to be in accidents.
The people yelling NIMBY don’t care. They run by emotion. One of my friends was talking about how horrible it was that the new county jail was built where it was. It was an eyesore. It was bringing down the value of homes around the jail.
Talking to her a few years later she was telling me how they couldn’t even tell the jail was there. It took about 5 years for the trees and shrubs to grow in. You can no longer see the jail from the road and you can only tell it is there if you know to look for the sign out by the road.
Some locals were protesting a pipeline carrying natural gas that could have come through our town. THey were very upset. Lots and lots of NIMBYs yelling. I was asked what I would do if that pipeline came through our yard? If it comes through our yard I don’t care. I’ll get paid for the damage done to the yard. It will grow back and I’ll get some small amount of income for a while. Not a big deal.
If it happened to come through my house I would be surprised. The people that build these things don’t want to have to pay thousands of dollars for a house they are going to destroy when they can just go past a few yards away.
Part of the problem NIMBYs have is that they have seen local government not care. If the plans call for that sewer line to go right through your new screened in three season porch they just do it. And you don’t get your money’s worth and what the pay for it. They normally aren’t willing to move that sewer line 5 foot that away to avoid your porch. And they will bluntly tell you that they had an easement that allows them to do so.
There is another type of NIMBY though. These are the people that are perfectly willing to tell you that you must accept “IT” in your backyard and showing how righteous they are because they would be perfectly willing to accept “IT” in their back yard. You are a horrible person for not wanting “IT” in your town. If you only had the good hearts they have you would just do it.
They can say these things because they never have to even think of “IT” showing up in their backyard. You saw this in the 70’s when the people that lived in DC set the federal speed limit at 55MPH. It really doesn’t make all that much difference in rush hour traffic if the speed limit is 55 or 75, it is still going to take them about the same amount of time to get to and from work.
They don’t care that when somebody is driving through the bad lands of the southwest that 20 MPH difference is the difference between a day trip and an overnight.
When the good people along our southern border complain about the hordes of illegal aliens coming across they are told they are horrible people. Ranchers talk about having to repair fences constantly, because the illegals are cutting them on a near nightly basis. They tell of having anything that isn’t nailed down stolen.
They only thing they hear from DC is “RACIST!!!” How hateful you must be to not be opening your homes to these tired and down trodden.
The Governors of Florida and Texas started sending illegals to sanctuary cities on the east coast and midwest. And the cries of NIMBY reached to the heavens.
For months people had been tracking government flights that were taking illegals to different parts of the country and pushing them into the local communities. Exposing these flights was “RACIST” and made those doing the exposing horrible people.
But a few busses into DC, NYC, Chicago and now Martha’s Vineyard and suddenly it is the bussing and flying that is horrible. Not the releasing those illegals into a community. It was just to much of a strain on the local communities. Chicago shipped theirs out to the ‘burbs. The people of Martha’s Vineyard had the governor call out the national guard to move the illegals off the island. Some 125 NG troops were used to remove 50 illegals.
There are a few of these sanctuary cities and towns around here. I don’t want illegals flooding the area, but it would be nice to see just one bus load show up at one of these enclave of elitist leftists…
It was a brilliant move to send them to marthas vineyard… it exposed the way elites truely are. Up here they are learning too, hotels in “beautiful people “ towns are full up with illegals.. I luv it. Nation wide railroads were shut down and tracks tore up in the late 70s and early 80s. Gubmint said they had become “inefficient “……. Um no, some think tank figured 10,000 trucks on the road per train was that much more TAX money gubmint could collect. Rail is THE best way to run freight on land IF you can keep gubmint from sticking their nose in. Pipelines are great for liquid and gas. But im preaching to the church here… never quit the fight
Actually, railroads were incredibly inefficient.
They were not a very efficient way to move money from the people to the Treasury.
They are an efficient way to move money from taxpayers to cronies.
DeSantis should be charged with kidnapping for providing flights for 50 illegal immigrants to one of the most desirable locations in the Northeast. However, Massachusetts sends 125 armed guardsmen (over two guardsmen per immigrant) to round up the same 50 illegal immigrants and “voluntarily” transport them to a military base on Cape Cod. Apparently Greyhound wasn’t available.
Spot on and exactly what I’ve been thinking for a while.
No one wants anything in their backyard or to hurt the environment but they want all the nice things without any of the support structures. So we just offshore them.
Limousine liberals, stay at home liberal wine moms, liberal academia, etc, all want electric cars but don’t want the environmental burden of producing the required materials so it is offshored to slave labor and worse environmental consequences. This type of NIMBY is really much worse than anything else.
We need housing! But don’t you dare stick affordable housing project next to my $1million housing development! And don’t even think about displacing that endangered blind nuetered ground squirrel! But damnn why is there such a problem getting services to poor people!
Its all connected, the NIMBY mentality and philosophy to the problems these types of “compassionate” people cause.
Locally were dealing with people not wanting a data center built on an undeveloped corn field surrounded by highway on 3 side because of a neighborhood on the 4th side. Millions in revinue for the town with no one wanting to lisiten to noise and vibration abatement plans and recourse options if it fails. Same thing with an amazon fulfillment center on a vacant like 200 acre former corporate head quarters. Nope too many trucks will be on the industrial parkway it it is located on so we can’t have that. No though about road improvements or anything.
A while back my city’s assembly decided it was a good idea to start putting homeless shelters all over the city, in neighborhoods, etc.. instead of keeping them concentrated down town. And, there was a massive outpouring of “nope, not happening!” from the public.
Five full nights of public testimony against the proposal happened, and the number one question any assembly member had was “do you live near one of the facilities?” That was a blatant attempt to dismiss all testimony as NIMBYism. I did take the stand to let my assembly reps know that if I saw a homeless person within a mile of my house, I was going to give them a bottle of booze, a couple of sandwiches, and drive them to their house.
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If NIMBY is going to be used as a slur against people trying to preserve their way of life, I think the people pushing for whatever should have to suffer the consequences first. Granted a bit tough to do with pipelines or other large projects, but point made.
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Final note. They days of willy nilly eminent domain seizures are pretty much over. Yes, there are a few newsworthy cases, but generally the government does not seize property against the will of the owner that much. Existing easements and right of ways are much preferred, and paying over fair market value for property is much easier than spending years in court. Cheaper too.