Apr
15
Jessica: Class 21
April 15, 2015 | Leave a Comment
I never considered the fracking boon to be viewed in a positive light. However, I guess someone, somewhere is always benefitting from something that is hurting more and helping one. Even though fracking has been able to create a sort of boon for certain cities, I do not think fracking should continue, based strictly on a utilitarian viewpoint. Plus, we are still very uneducated about the longterm effects fracking can have on the environment. It is too soon to tell if fracking is beneficial to us as a resource considering we are one day going to run out and have ruined the land while in the process of digging up all the gas. I can see why Americans would support fracking now that I see this data because if at least one person is getting rich from something hundreds more will try to get rich as well.
The Mother Jones, in my opinion, made an extremely thin claim by stating that the fracking boon is the reason the area atop the Bakken Formation is the reason why so many people were able to lift themselves up from bottom fifth. If this claim were true, than the New York Times map would strongly resemble the Energy Information Administration map, which it does not. Only the Bakkens happen to benefit greatly from the upward mobility the Times studied. However, that is not the only area where there are shale formations. Clearly, there are other factors in play in the North Dakota area where the income mobility is greatly occurring.
Additionally, the second article praising fracking as an alternative source of energy and complimenting how others are getting wealthy is a horrible reason to support such an environmentally unstable process. I can see why the author would support fracking as he views it as a welcoming income divide and sees no harm if people are financially taking advantage of it. However, fracking has environmental concerns that the people getting rich are clearly biased and blind to notice. In the end, the shale resource will also be depleted and then what will happen to the land and those that made their millions from hydraulic fracturing? Will they look for other sources of energy or search for other shale formations elsewhere? The United States only has so much land and shale formations. Overall, I think that even though it is great that others have found some financial footing, however it is the expense of others.
In the last article about the two different Hurricane Sandys, I never considered how the Housing Projects were affected. So many people were displaced and torn form the storm and it took such a while to rebuild and recover that I would never think that some people would just continue with no work done. It is a shame to realize that some people in the city are being overlooked or just do not care as one of the statistics showed. I hope that sometime in the future, or actually now, they are putting together a plan for future natural disasters and how to effectively handle them so everyone is properly taken care of.
From these articles it is evident that, not only the economy effects income inequality but also nature itself due to how rock formations are placed within the earth or natural disasters that occur. People try to get rich over anything because money means more than anything, while others are trying to come up with more effective ways of energy so natural disasters will not be as disastrous in the future.
