Last week I went to Silt for a BLM meeting about drilling on
top of the Roan Plateau, and I have to admit it scared the bejesus out of me.
Even though I am from here, I’m not as sheltered as your average Roaring
Forker. After all, I lived in Denver for high school, where I took a bus to a
public school on Colfax (a city bus not a school bus) and I’ve lived in big
cities like Seattle, Austin, and New Haven. I’ve traveled to places all over
the world, and I consider myself to be amiable and open, even when I’m out of
my comfort zone, i.e., not on my couch in yoga pants…
But Silt scared me. It is like another planet compared to
the Roaring Fork valley. The closest thing I could find to a ‘health food’
snack was a bag of Combos— if you haven’t tried these, don’t. They’re like dog
treats for humans. Everyone looked like they had just finished their 10 hour
shift on an oil rig (probably because they had) and the land seemed deserted
despite all the stores and houses. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there
was definitely a Dean Koontz feeling in the air.
Of course they have a very nice, new BLM field office,
thanks no doubt to the largest gas lease sale ever in the lower 48 states- $113.9
million in 2008 (half of which went to the State of Colorado) but I’m still not
sure it was worth it. I would rather have clean air and water and that tingly
feeling on the back of my neck when the wild things are watching. I know that
without industry there are no jobs, but does it have to be such a zombie dirty
industry?
Our house is completely powered by electricity generated
from PV panels on our roof. We didn’t even bring a gas line in. And that’s while
the majority still makes fun of solar, putting it in the same production
category as pinwheels and pixie dust. Just imagine what it would be like if a
fraction of oil & gas money was invested in solar, wind, hydro, etc. It
would look like the freakin Jetsons out there; we could all zap around on
rainbows and cow pies and then come home to low energy bills and a big boxy
maid who looks a lot like Ernest Borgnine…
Speaking of Ernest Borgnine, we could’ve played Will the Real
Ernest Borgnine Please Stand Up at the TDC meeting last week. Wow. And how
about those industry guys? “He’s no Matt Damon.” -AR. I’m glad they came to the
meeting though, and I hope they quit their jobs soon so they can spend more
time fly-fishing or backpacking or something. I mean I know they have a job to
do, but hopefully they’ll realize they just get the one life and they’re
wasting valuable time, like Matt Damon realized in Promised Land.
A pretty good movie, but my uncle and I both agreed that if
Matt had really spent summers on his grandfather’s farm he’d damn well know how
to drive a stick… While we were discussing the film, Uncle Charlie asked me if
I was familiar with the Golden Rule. Sure, I replied, seeing images of Sunday
School Jesus sharing his supper and a panhandler I just read about on Yahoo!
who returned a diamond ring to a woman because she accidentally gave it to him
when she emptied her change purse into his cup on the street.
“The Golden Rule:” my uncle said, “the one with the gold
makes the rule.”
Hmm, so that’s why the oil companies are such clocksuckers
they think they can extend their Thompson Divide leases indefinitely and frack
around on the Roan Plateau without worrying about what the people who live here
think.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could still drink the local water
in fifty years, instead of watching it catch on fire? And if the Thompson
Divide was still dark at night from space, unlike north North Dakota.* That’s
worth way more than gold; just ask anyone at the Kum & Go in Silt.
No comments:
Post a Comment