Fracking: To Drill or Not to Drill

            A recent report was released by the EPA on how the fracking process in Wyoming has caused contamination in the water source for Pavillion, a small town located near the fracking site. You might be asking yourself “What is fracking?” According to Wikipedia, fracking, or hydraulic fracturing “is a technique used to release petroleum, natural gas (including shale gas, tight gas and coal seam gas), or other substances for extraction. This type of fracturing creates fractures from a well bore drilled into reservoir rock formations.” Fracking was said to be perfectly safe for the environment by the drilling industry due to the fact “that hydrologic pressure would naturally force fluids down, not up; that deep geologic layers provide a watertight barrier preventing the movement of chemicals towards the surface; and that the problems with the cement and steel barriers around gas wells aren't connected to fracking.” (Lustgarten, and Kusnetz 6) However, there was found to be “synthetic compounds such as glycol ethers...and the assortment of other organic components…as the result of direct mixing of hydraulic fracturing fluids with ground water in the Pavillion gas field”. “This is in part because the cement barrier meant to protect the well bore and isolate the chemicals in their intended zone had been weakened and separated from the well, the EPA concluded.” (Lustgarten, and Kusnetz 19) “The report also found that hydrologic pressure in the Pavillion area had pushed fluids from deeper geologic layers towards the surface. Those layers were not sufficient to provide a reliable barrier to contaminants moving upward.” (Lustgarten, and Kusnetz 20)

            From this recent report, we can see the danger to the environment and to our own lives of “fracking” close to towns or cities. Although we might need the gas or resources, nothing is worth endangering the lives of human beings so carelessly. There is a little good news for the drilling industry though because the findings of the EPA “…in Wyoming are specific to the region's geology; the Pavillion-area gas wells were fracked at shallower depths than many of the wells in the Marcellus shale and elsewhere.” This means that in most other locations the fracking takes place so far beneath the surface of the Earth that the chemicals that are produced cannot possibly get into the well water of the surrounding areas. However, I still believe that caution, awareness, and safety should be used when performing this process.

             To read the article yourself, click the link http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fracking-linked-water-contamination-federal-agency

Lustgarten, Abraham, and Nicholas Kusnetz. "EPA: Natural Gas Fracking Linked to Water             Contamination."Scientific American. 09 Dec 2011: n. page. Web. 27 Sep. 2012

Quote From "Towards Ecopedagogy"

          While reading "Towards Ecopedagogy", a piece written by Richard Kahn, I found a very a pair of quotes/facts very interesting and insightful. In his essay Kahn says that "95% of all American adults support having environmental education programs in schools" and "45 million Americans think the ocean is a fresh source of water".
          These two quotes can seem not linked in any way at all; however, if you dig deeper they show the main reason our education system is messed up in the first place. The first quote says that almost all American adults support teaching future generations about the environment and how to save it from the current downfall it is headed for. But if you read the second quote right after you read the first, this can be confusing or misleading. This quotes says that 45 million Americans think that the ocean is made up of fresh water. This is preposterous! Anyone who has even been in an ocean knows that the water tastes salty, and therefore cannot be fresh! The whole question is: What are we teaching our children about the environment? Everyone can agree that we have a problem with the environment that needs fixing, but not informing people correctly about that problem is dangerous. If we are going to support "environmental education", we need to make sure that the information is accurate and sustainable. We can not afford to the future generations thinking that the ocean is fresh water if we want their help to sustain and maintain our planet.

Themes from Turtle Island: Part 3

As I continue my reading of Turtle Island, it is almost getting easier to pick out themes based on our in-class discussions and such. Again, I have picked out three of the poems in Turtle Island and summarized what I think they mean.

The first poem I picked to read was Manzanita. In this poem, Snyder is describing the Manzanita clan and how they live. The main point Snyder wrote this poem is to describe the way of life of the Manzanita people and to show that it is beautiful and peaceful. This is shown when he talks about the sunrise and the “gold-purple” pines and the echoing of the woodpecker’s sounds.

The second poem I read was Pine Tree Tops. In this poem, I believe Snyder is trying to once again show us the beauty of nature. The poem is very short; however it still contains many descriptive adjectives to really paint a picture in the readers mind. The purpose of the poem is to make the reader reflect onto their own experiences with nature and value them. This way, we will want to preserve it.

The last poem I read was For the Children. This poem is sort of a summary of the entire purpose for writing this book. In this poem, Snyder tells us that all we have before us is a “rising slope of statistics” and “everything, going up/up, as we all, go down.” But he does not leave us with only the bad news. He says that if “we make it” we can live in peace. The main theme in this poem is that we need to increase the bioregionalism in our culture so we do not lose our planet.

All three of these poems should shape the way that someone looks at our planet. Earth is a beautiful planet that deserves to be valued and treasured so we can enjoy its entirety.

Themes from Turtle Island: Part 2

As I read a couple more poems from Turtle Island, it has become a little easier to see the themes that Gary Snyder has embedded into his poems.

The first poem I read was The Dead by the Side of the Road in the “Manzanita” section. In this poem Snyder describes many different situations where humans have hurt or killed animals. These situations include road kill, hunting, or pollution. One of the main themes in this poem is that humans have a direct and indirect impact on the lives of animals. Whether we are running over animals (direct) or driving “log trucks” that “run on fossil fuel” (indirect), we are hurting animals and their environment. This theme is also echoed in one of my sources as it talks about humans being more aware of their actions and correcting the wrong things we do.

The next poem I read was By Frazier Creek Falls in the Magpie’s Song section. This poem is all about describing a beautiful scene over looking out over a cliff or mountain top. Snyder is describing the land as far as his eye can see. The theme here is that we are a piece of nature and we should acknowledge that and live as a part of it. Snyder even says this when he says “We are it/it sings through us”. This also relates to one of my sources in that we need to realize the beauty of the environment and value it.

The last poem I read was the Jemez Pueblo Ring in the For the Children section. In this poem Snyder tells the story of a ring made by Native Americans that is found in our time. This ring was buried under an apartment complex and was only found after the foundations of the old place had been moved out. The theme is that if we start reverting to old customs and make life simpler life, we might begin to enjoy our past more. We can start to fully understand our ancestors if and only if we revert to our past ways. This is connected to my sources in that we need to consider where our future is going and how to fix the eminent destruction we are headed for.

In conclusion, these three poems all open our eyes to the possibilities of the future, and how we should view nature. Rather than live separated from nature, we should live in harmony with it. If we do this, then the future of our planet should turn out a lot better off than the way it is looking now.

Themes from Turtle Island Part: 1

My selection of poems from Turtle Island includes 4 poems from the middle of the book that looked appealing. However, I did find some interesting results.

The first poem I came across is titled Steak. This poem describes one of many steak house restaurants that we have in America today. Snyder goes on to describe the people eating there as well as the cow’s location themselves on the farm. One theme I noticed in this poem is the savagery of humans and their meat. The purpose of these houses is to cut up cows and serve them as food to humans. And, as Snyder shows, we do it in the most inhumane way possible.

The next poem I read was Front Lines. This poem is telling the tale of a piece of wooded land that gets cleared out for a realty company. One theme in this poem is the aggressive expansion of Americans. With no regard for nature, we use bulldozers “grinding and slobbering/sideslipping and belching on top of/the skinned-up bodies of still live bushes” only “in the pay of a man/from town”.

Another poem I found was The Great Mother. Although this poem is only 5 lines, there is a major theme included in it. This theme is that human’s awareness need to increase. Every day we should think about the decisions we made and how they affect the environment.

The last poem I read was For Nothing. The theme this poem offers is that humans don’t appreciate the beauty of nature. The poem talks about “earthing a flower” but no one is there to appreciate it, so it ends up growing for vain.

I enjoyed the readings from Turtle Island and the challenges they produced. These poems all have similar themes and echo the thought of living with nature, not using it.