This will be one of the last blogs I will do for this semester in Professor Mangini's Comp100 class
I-Search paper
I-Search paper
Feinberg1
Alec Feinberg
Professor Mangini
12 April 2015
Comp100
Resources of the Nation
Section 1: Proposal
The final part of our portfolio is an I-search paper on a debatable topic that we got to choose on our subject based on what we wanted to learn more about or how it tied into our lives. I dislike assignments that let us choose the topic because I have a hard time finding an interesting topic for the assignment. I thought about many things, but I eventually found a topic to research that had relevance to my life now. The topic is to reflect on how the drilling for oil and natural gases corrupts an environment, society and its government. I want to research the corruption of the drilling for oil and natural gases because it still is a big issue in America. The methods that I will use to gather information is to look for sites that are government related. Another method will be to ask my Dad about the subject and get his thoughts on the matter, as he has been fighting to protect our neighborhood from a liquid natural gas (LNG) pumping station. This is a tricky subject because it is still in the news and it is still debated to this day. The drilling for oil/gas damages not only the environment but also corrupts local societies and its governments in more ways than one.
Feinberg2
Section 2: Process
As I looked into the subject a little further, I found myself on an oil company’s website in which they were telling me the facts that how oil drilling was good and it creates jobs, but I know better than that. I know the companies do not try to make the world a better place but to make a huge amount of profit, by telling the public what they want to hear. When I went to “Room for Debate” there were two sides to the story; one side wanted to continue drilling and the other side wanted to stop drilling for natural gases and oil. What was interesting is that a Senator was one of those opinions, which was very suspicious to me. I then I started to look at the TEEIC website and found a lot of information on drilling for oil/gas and the way I started my research wasn't by looking information up but asking for ideas from my friends and family. Then it hit me why not do a I -search paper on a subject that is always debatable the corruption that drilling for oil and natural gases has on society and the surrounding environment. The first site I went to was Room for Debate a site that has opinions from both sides the side that agrees with drilling for oil and natural gases which was the congress man and the law professor who is just one of two people that believe it's not safe. Next I went to a Government site, because while I don't believe everything on the site, it also is a very credible site to have for my research (???). After the government site, I continued to look around the Internet to find another source and I found myself on the BP oil company website. As I looked around the site, it showed kids smiling and all of their safety precautions. What you don't see is that their main goal is to drill the oil/gas then sell it and make a huge profit on it, even if they have to take someone's land or house just to get what they want. They will use their money and influence to step on your rights.
Feinberg3
Section 3: Paper
Watch this clip Light Your Water on Fire from Gas Drilling, Fracking how would you feel if you could light your sink on fire because of contaminated water because of a new pumping station that was built behind your house. You asked your government officials not put it there and ignored your concern of the neighborhoods. As a result, there has been an increase in a weed that is killing your lawn and weed killer isn’t doing the job. Also you have noticed your drinking water is all fog and when you light a match the water burst into flames. The drilling for oil/gases corrupts not only the environment but also local societies and its governments in more ways than one.
The first corruption of drilling for oil and natural gases is the corruption or damage of the environment, its toll on ecosystems and the laws that bind the restrictions of the drilling for the oil and natural gases industry. According to the ‘TEEIC’ or the Tribal Energy and Environmental Information the ‘excess increases in dust could decrease forage palatability for wildlife and livestock and increase potential for dust pneumonia.” This quote means there will be less nurturance for wildlife to thrive and the chance for lung inflammation. That is a serious issue because some of the natural gas pumps are in suburban or urban areas were the space is very tight and bring an increased danger from pneumonia. The ecological dangers of soil being eroded from the roots of trees threaten the plants that were native to the ecosystem because nonnative plants could take over by the lack of enemies to keep the plants in balance. The vehicles that transport the oil/gases are from different parts of the nation carry countless numbers of spores of weeds and fungus that destroy ecosystems. There is also the danger of some to the oil or natural gas contaminating water supplies according to the TEEIC the ‘Weathering of newly exposed soils, causing leaching and oxidation that can release chemicals into the water.’ That studies report, ‘Activities that cause soil erosion or dust that can be washed into water bodies.’ The soil that is exposed to the surrounding air dramatically increases the chance that the chemicals in the soil will corrupt the drinking water supply for the wildlife and humans. That is why the drilling for oil/natural gases corrupts the environment in a vast way.
Next is the corruption of the society affected by drilling for oil and natural gases. This is a corruption because the zoning laws that are intended keep the industrial drilling companies from building a pump station in residential neighborhoods are lost because the companies find ways to get around the laws by saying they are a public utility so that they can build where ever they want. Even in a residential neighborhood. The drilling for oil/natural gases affects the water supply not just for the environment but that same contaminated water is being used in everyday households around the country. It also possess a major safety and fire hazard in homes according to (Fracking causes flaming taps... should we be doing it? - Truth loader) (YouTube video) the people are able to light the water on fire because as a result the water is so contaminated with methane. These people that were affected by the methane in their water source can no longer, drink, cook or shower in their own homes. These are just a few of the many reasons that drilling for oil/gas not hurt, but also destroy communities that people have formed.
The third and final reason is the corruption of how the drilling of oil and natural gases is tied into the decisions of the political system. When one thinks of a politician or government official today the same word comes up every time corrupt. According to the article “Oil and Gas Industry Exerts Outsized Political Influence in Colorado: Report in the Colorado Independent” by John Tomasic, “oil and gas companies and industry associations spent about a million dollars annually on lobbying at the capitol and that, over the last two election cycles, the companies and their employees gave roughly $800,000 to help elect Colorado Republican and Democratic candidates.” Odds are when those candidates get elected the gas and oil companies will start asking for favors and telling them to pass bills that help them avoid zoning laws and increase their profits in that area or state. What they are saying is that we help you get into office, but once you get in, we need you to pass some bills that help us out seems fair the candidate agrees and then the deal is made. It is the equivalent of selling your soul to Satan, figuratively and this type of deal is what corrupts our political system. Another reason the drilling for oil and natural gases has corrupted the political system is because there is no way to fight it if the politician your voting for to stop the fracking or drilling for oil/natural gas is in with the oil/natural gas companies; there won’t be any change. Here is a shining example on how corrupt a politician can be “Corrupt Politics Michael Grimm Threatens Reporter (YouTube).” As you can see the way the politician acts when the reporter asked about how he got his campaign money he then walks away in a clam way but comes back in a very aggressive way. As seen in the video the moment the reporter asked how he got his campaign money he will denied it instantly. That some examples on why drilling for oil and natural gases have corrupted the political system to the point where nothing gets done.
Given these points of how drilling oil/natural gases corrupts not just at an environmental stand point but also a social and political stand point as well. The as previously stated the drilling for oil and natural gases is an extreme danger to not just the local wildlife, but to an entire ecosystem and the people who live near these facilities. Same goes for the danger of contaminated water and highly flammable methane within the water. This brings us to the final corruption, the corruption in the political system and how oil and gas companies get the loopholes needed to corrupt society and the environment. As you can see it is a trickle-down effect the oil and gas companies corrupt the political system and the after effect is a corrupt society and a corrupt environment full of chemicals other hazardous materials.
Section 4: Ponder
My research started when I asked my friend for help and she gave me an idea about a topic that was affecting our town. After I had my topic, I emailed it to my professor and he said it was to general and needed to be more specific. Some of the strategies that worked was to think of what was it that I wanted to learn more about. What didn’t work was blowing the assignment off, I mean I know the paper is not perfect yet and there are a few more areas that need sprucing up. The main take-away from doing this I –search paper is that we are a long ways away from being a role model to future generations. Also another main take way is that if anything is to get done, we need to find and get rid of the weight that is holding us back from getting somewhere. As the saying goes ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ but it was built by being productive and active in the communities that built it. The questions that need to be asked are how can average citizens take a stand, and how can the people’s voice be heard thought out the Senates and Congress at both the State and Federal levels? For this corruption to stop there needs to be a change in the environment we live in, and the way these issues are viewed at a social and political level. There is a famous quote that John F. Kennedy once said and that was “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future”. There has to be some affective way to solve this problem. I say "Having a problem is easy, and finding its solution that’s hard part of the journey. I hope we can find a solution to this problem in the future.
Work cited page:
Fracking causes flaming taps... should we be doing it? – Truthloader
http://youtu.be/Yd8pr6uFA_Y
(Tribal Energy and Environmental Information, 2015)
http://teeic.indianaffairs.gov/er/oilgas/impact/drilldev/index.htm
Corrupt Politics Michael Grimm Threatens Reporter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdUoPnDhYvw
Tomasic, John, “Oil and Gas Industry Exerts Outsized Political Influence in Colorado” 30 May, 2013, http://www.coloradoindependent.com/127822/report-oil-and-gas-industry-exerts-outsized-political-influence-in-colorado
Light Your Water on Fire from Gas Drilling, Fracking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LBjSXWQRV8