We’ll get to NIMBY in just a moment.

We were recently interviewed by NJ.com about our dealings with the potential PennEast pipeline.

You can read the article here.

My wife and I were both happy with the results of the article as it fairly portrayed the plight from our specific perspective. We were nothing but honest. Yet as I’ve learned over the past few months, you never know how these types of interviews will pan out in the media so you have to remain skeptical. This one worked out OK.

Aside:

I cannot say enough about the support we’ve received from friends and family who’ve already shared this article or offered up kind words along the way. People at work have stopped by with a thumbs up. Strangers from across the globe have encouraged us to keep up the fight. Say what you want about social media, but it has been an incredible opportunity to connect with those under similar circumstances. United we stand.

Aside over.

I understand that exploring reader comments associated with an article can be an exercise in maddening futility. It is a slippery slope trying to reason with someone whose sole purpose is to troll you. Everyone is a tough guy or a know-it-all when debating on the WWW and to engage them is generally a waste of your time.

But I did it with our article … and I’m glad I did.

Here is the comment that lead me to some true introspection:

Witch CC (And I bet that isn’t your real name you silly goose) said: “NIMBY, but others no problem.”

Oh that NIMBY. The go-to argument for the pro-pipeline/pro-fracking contingent.

Not

In

My

Back

Yard

NIMBY is a tough one. If we are honest with ourselves, we suffer from the NIMBY mindset on a daily basis, often without being conscious of it.

“I’m glad ‘blank’ didn’t happen here. Oh well, time to buy more junk on Amazon.com”.

“Those poor people living in ‘blank’. Let me check the DVR again.”

“There was an accident where? Oh good, it won’t delay my commute into the office.”

Is this a reality of life? I guess depressingly so. If we didn’t apply NIMBY we would be paralyzed with concern and fear 24 hours a day.

It hurt to type that last sentence.

When we learned that our property was going to be directly impacted by the “proposed” (a word that gives me fits now, BTW) PennEast pipeline, you bet your ass I was all NIMBY. I never felt more nimbified in my entire life. You want to come take my land, against my will, all in the name of greed? It’s about to get all NIMBY up in here.

An attack against my land is a direct attack against my family. This is where I raised both of my kids, where I taught my son how to catch a baseball. This is where my dog roamed free and chased the rabbits. This is where I planted trees in the name of literally settling down our roots. I picked this land for a reason and you are now fucking with my family.

Will my kids ever wander into the backyard again? Worse than that, will we drink the water out of our well ever again? I need to put “No Trespassing” signs on my lawn, why? Is my largest financial investment in serious jeopardy?

How can you not view something like this from a purely personal point of view? It’s not like they provide you with a fair warning ahead of time. Gently soothe you into it all. It felt like survival, not merely as an inconvenience as it is sold to the public. You return the gut punch with a gut punch of your own, only you have no frickin idea where to throw that punch. Utter chaos.

But then the NIMBY feeling slowly starts to lessen. Or I should say the NIMBY feeling changes course. It just takes some legitimate amount of time to settle in and realize what and who you are contending with. That initial shock subsides as you fortunately, or unfortunately, realize you are not alone. NIMBY people meet other NIMBY people and then meet former NIMBY people and things start to change.

“Not in my backyard” morphs into “Not in my neighbor’s backyard either” and into “Not in my community” and eventually into “Not at all”. If I had to come up with a cute little catch phrase, I’d call it BIFTS:

Bad

Idea

From

The

Start

We are unfortunate to be in the beast’s path but this issue is bigger than us. This is about pursuing more sustainable and cleaner sources of energy. This is about respecting our environment and appreciating what we have been granted, not to mention paid to preserve. This is about fighting against the abuse of eminent domain by a private company in the name of the almighty dollar. This is about logically looking at the project and realizing, maybe it makes no sense at all.

We’ve shared our story not for your sympathy. I can say that with 100% honesty. We want to get the word out on how easily this can happen to ALL of you. Stay aware, ask questions and don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.

This is transforming us as a family. It has been stressful and unnerving but we’ve become significantly less nimbific. We hope to carry that ideal with us well beyond when this pipeline is inevitably shot down.

That is ultimately the message we want to convey.

Thank you Witch CC.