Let’s see, where are some places it wouldn’t be a good idea to subject to fracking. The center of Florence, probably. Machu Picchu. The Great Wall. Giza. Stonehenge. Chaco Canyon.
Oh wait – that last one can’t be right.
The renowned Native astronomical and sacred site of Chaco Canyon and its environs may be in danger from encroaching fracking wells, environmental groups fear.
“They are not thinking about the spirituality of those lands,” said Jemez Pueblo governor Joshua Madalena to theDurango Heraldin New Mexico, referring to the companies that are conducting hydraulic fracturing in the area.
With companies on the verge of investing millions of dollars into fracking enterprises, a group calling itself the Partnership for Responsible Business took journalists and others on an aerial tour of the region to draw attention to the proximity of proposed wells to sacred sites, and the need for unified planning given that the land involved has a hodgepodge of owners.
The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) owns 19 percent of the land in question, theDurango Heraldnoted, while the rest is controlled by a mixture of tribal members, tribes and others, BLM field manager Gary Torres told the newspaper. One of the major companies planning to work in the region is Encana, which is aiming to drill 45 to 50 exploratory wells, spokesperson Doug Hock told theDurango Herald. He added that company plus WPX Energy and Logos Resources plan to invest heavily over the next 12 to 18 months.
What makes you think you can have nice things?
Ophelia,
If the project goes ahead, the usual outcome is that (1) the shareholders make a bundle, (2) much of the archaeological and environmental damage is irreparable and (3) any remedial work will be funded by the taxpayers, and of course, the company will have been liquidated, taken over, or merged and protected by a phalanx of lawyers.
@2 RJW: Win-win for them, lose-lose for us.
Beyond the sheer stupidity of risking destruction of an irreplaceable historic site to get at something that is widely available elsewhere it just doesn’t seem like a pressing need. For business tycoons and financial super-geniuses they don’t really seem to grasp the idea of markets and the whole supply and demand thing. Oil and gas prices are near record lows and they want to bring more wells on the market?
I suspect this is related to the claim that at Ayn Rand’s funeral there were large floral displays in the shape of dollar signs. I’m sure it was all very tasteful. Point being that once you identify your God, in Rand’s case money, you feel the need to sacrifice all other concerns to that God.
By sacrificing priceless historic sites in the pursuit of oil, and money we more deeply honor the Gods of oil and money. Of course, all Gods are jealous and none will ever be satisfied. We could burn Rembrandts to give oil workers a place to warm their hands and it will never be enough. Gods always want more.