Monday, November 14, 2016

Banning Fracking, But Saving Buildings

I HATE TO SOUND NEGATIVE, an anti-capitalistic, anti oil, anti growth, and all that bullshit, but it is just barely and remotely possible that some consideration needs to be given to the idea of stopping the practice of fracking for oil in the great state of Oklahoma, before said state breaks into pieces and blows away. Anybody who lives in or near Oklahoma knows that earthquakes are becoming more frequent and more powerful. Before fracking, Oklahoma rarely if ever had earthquakes. Now, they have thousands every year. I grew up wishing I could have the experience of seeing a tornado, being close to one, and feeling an earthquake. Now, I am smart enough to know to be careful what I wish for. I've experienced tornadoes and earthquakes recently, and unless I move far from Oklahoma, am likely to experience many more of each before I'm done. It turns out there is a limit to how many times I can feel my house swaying back and forth, and enjoy the sensation. I've reached my limit. This is not entirely selfish on my part. Sure, I care about my house, and want it to keep standing. But what about the millions of other houses and buildings across the fruited plain of Oklahoma? To lose them, and we have lost many already, will make the oil we gain much more expensive. There is a glut of oil on the world market, and has been for a couple of years. And yet, the president elect and his economic ilk talk about opening up new lands for new drilling for oil. Why? We need to save the planet by moving away from fossil fuels, and if we use less and less oil every year, and more energy from renewable sources, we'll have a remote chance of winning the struggle for survival. Solar energy can drive everything else off the market if given a chance, a helping hand from government, and why not? Throughout American history the American government has picked winners, invested in various sectors of the private free market economy in ways it thought would benefit everybody, areas like railroads, aircraft, scientific research, and military manufacturers, among many others. Solar panels on every building would get us halfway to our goal. Let's not kill the coal, gas, and oil industry; let's simply let them die naturally, as consumers and investors and workers transition as smoothly as possible to a new and better economy and world.

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