Sacrificing a greener economy will not be the only
consequence of this push for natural gas. While many environmental issues seem abstract and
distant, the boom in drilling for natural gas will get the attention of home
and landowners across America, including suburban Fort Worth, Texas.
If a landowner doesn't control the mineral rights under their house, land, or farm, then the landowner has little ability to stop an oil company from drilling on their land, building roads, laying pipe-lines, erecting tanks, compressor stations, and infrastructure they deem necessary to access their "mineral rights", even if those mineral rights are on your doorstep. How far gas drillers will take their present legal ability is on display in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming where life-long, conservative Republican ranchers now refer to their home region as "an area of national sacrifice."
Perhaps the "clean burning" promise of natural gas can be partially realized, but not without vastly stricter regulation and a thorough analysis of every step of the extraction process. And should the present oil industry campaign, aided by some big environmental groups be allowed to derail the development of a renewable energy industry? As of now, the billions of dollars at stake make this "bridge fuel" pretty shaky to cross.
(Todd Darling is a Los Angeles based documentary filmmaker. To hear Wyoming ranchers and their experience with natural gas exploration go to: www.asnowmobileforgeorge.com
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
2
