To my readers and to my fellow post-undergrad twenty-somethings:
I'm writing about something different tonight, but really not all that different than some things I've posted before. There can be many relations drawn from this topic into the disaster relief world, but hopefully you will be able to relate this to your life as a whole.
Since I was sixteen I have been a part of what I believe the most inspiring organization I have come by. This organization is Water for South Sudan, Inc. The organization was started back in 2003 by my friend, a former lost boy, Salva Dut. He began the organization after he found is father had fallen ill with a water borne illness. He then decided he wanted to do something to help his family and the rest of his community to not fall ill to a preventable disease like water borne illnesses. Since 2003 the organization has drilled over 150 bore-hole wells in South Sudan, every one of them still operating today.
The reason I am writing about Water for South Sudan is because earlier today my friend posted an article on Facebook titled "25 Things To Do Before You Turn 25". The list covers everything from going to a local diner at 5:30am to become acquainted with fellow strangers, to jumping into an exciting and sensual relationship. But I couldn't help but be left thinking that the list was missing something. If I could add to this list I would suggest that you get involved in a project larger than yourself. For me this project has been Water for South Sudan, but it could be as simple as taking an elderly neighbor out to lunch once a week, or cleaning up a local park or beach once a year.
It is impossible to put a value on what you get out of doing something like this as it is continuously giving. It is one thing to put a dollar, or some other amount in an envelope and mail it across the country, but to give to an organization and then see the children and families who are directly helped by a well that brings their village clean water is an experience in itself. And it's just water! Something we take so easily for granted here in America, putting fruit flavoring in it, asking for extra ice, or using purifying filters. For the people of South Sudan it is not just a simple beverage, but a life-sustaining, opportunity-granting resource.
So I say be selfless and get lost in something bigger than yourself. Through this I guarantee you will meet some of the most heartening people and gain some of the best stories. It is an honor to be friends with Salva Dut. He is a man that defines the word unselfish, never taking any credit for the inspiring work he does and continuously thanking every volunteer, every child that reads his book, and every board member. He has gone through more trials and tribulations than anyone I know and continues to greet every obstacle with a smile.
I am only 22, but if there is something that I am most proud of in my life it is deciding to volunteer with Water for South Sudan. Being a part of this organization has shaped me to become the person I am today. It has given me a new outlook on life and the challenges I may face. Simply put, becoming part of something bigger than I am, that touches more people than I could imagine, continues to put a smile on my face every day. And why shouldn't you smile every day!? So DVR your favorite TV show and find something to be passionate about and jump into it! It doesn't have to cost anything and what you get out of it will last until you are 125. Then after you open yourself up to this new passion share it with your significant other or a friend! They will love to hear about your new experience and maybe they'll join you sometime!
There is a quote that says "Volunteer - not so you can build your resume, but so you can build yourself." Let's face it, we're not even 25, we're still kids at heart, we are still finding our place in this gigantic universe and figuring out who we are and what we want to do. So give a piece of yourself, expand yourself. When you look back in 10, 20, 50 years from now I am positive you will be happy about what you've done; about taking a risk to help something you believe in. At the least you will get out of it a brilliant story or two, and a check mark next to a point on a list of things to do.
The list that inspired me to share my thoughts: "25 Things To Do Before You Turn 25" by Stephanie Georgopulos http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/25-things-to-do-before-you-turn-25/ (Thanks for sharing Alyssa!!)
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
What the frack, bro?
Here is a copy of a paper I recently wrote on environmental protection and land use issues, focusing on fracking, for my public policy class:
The environment we are
living in today is one unlike any other the world has seen before. It is true that our atmosphere has a natural
Earth energy balance and passes through warm periods and cold periods. Thanks to climate analysis of ice cores, tree
rings, glacier remains and ocean sediments it is also known that this is the
warmest warm period we have seen in hundreds of thousands of years. The level of greenhouse gases also appears to
be on the rise as well. It is believed
that this rise in greenhouse gases like carbon-dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4),
and water vapor (H2O) may be caused by the burning of fossil fuels and other
human activities. Policy makers have
been greatly urged to develop laws in regards to climate change and sustainable
energy, but unfortunately we have seen little action in recent years in regard
to these events (EPA, 2013). President
Obama recently stated in his State of the Union address that he was going to be
taking serious measures against climate change in his second term as the time
to make changes is dwindling.
As
we search for ways to decrease the effects for future generations, it has led to
debates on sources of clean energy, and one of these highly debated sources is hydraulic
fracturing, or ‘fracking’. Fracking is “the use of fluid and material to create or restore
small fractures in a formation (i.e. shale or other rock) in order to stimulate
production from new and existing oil and gas wells” (Frac Focus, 2013). This source of cheap natural gas emits less
carbon-dioxide, but it is believed to still heat the planet as well as having
other affects on the environment. The key
idea is that natural gas produced by processes like fracking can curtail the
burning of fossil fuels like coal so that we may eventually turn to all
sustainable energy (i.e. wind and solar) by the years 2-2020-2060, in hopes of keeping the warming of the
earth’s atmosphere below the predicted 2ᵒC rise. Hydraulic fracturing only began in the late 1940s
and has only recently begun to become more popular as inexpensive procedures
have been discovered (Plumer, 2013). Therefore,
there is still much unknown about the process and its effects. More importantly, fracking is not yet highly
regulated and has led to policy debates by many.
In Upstate New York and
Pennsylvania, Marcellus wells (Figure 1) are the most common fracturing wells (Frac
Focus, 2013). Due to the recent boom in
hydraulic fracturing in Upstate New York, the state has been pushed to pass
regulations on the oil and natural gas process.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has recently revised
its draft regulations for high-volume fracking.
According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) these regulations are
flawed and do not make the fracking process much safer. The EWG lists five key reasons why the
regulations should not be passed yet. The first being that the health
assessment is incomplete, meaning these regulations cannot possibly guarantee
the safety of New York residents. The
second is that the water supply is not properly safeguarded. The new regulations allow fracking as close
as 500 feet from private wells and some aquifers even though there is proof in
other states that this distance doesn’t properly protect the water supply. Thirdly, the volume threshold of 300,000
gallons of water per well is defined as high-volume, therefore wells just under
that threshold follow only the two-decade old environmental protection
measures, which are not highly regarded.
The fourth issue stated by EWG is that the drilling agencies are given
too much leeway to hide important information about the likely dangerous
chemicals used to advance fracking.
Lastly, the plan for disposal of the toxic waste water left behind from
the fracturing process has too many holes and is too weak so it cannot be done
safely enough. The EWG concludes their
analysis by recommending a stronger, more extensive review of
hydraulic-fracturing before the regulations are passed and that in the
mean-time the New York DEC does not authorize fracking until it can guarantee
regulation, safety, clean air and water, and economic security (EWG, 2013).
Figure 1: Marcellus hydraulic-fracturing wells. Source: Frac Focus, 2013.
However, New York is not the only
state dealing with policy issues regarding fracking. As in Upstate New York, the fracking industry
has primarily targeted rural areas.
Therefore a seemingly perfect place for fracking would be North
Dakota. According to a recent article by
NPR, the fracking boom has rapidly spread in this state. One hundred fifty oil companies have moved to
the region and are now producing 660,000 barrels a day which is double the
amount produced just two years ago, making North Dakota the second-largest oil
producing state, with Texas, of course taking the number one spot (Krulwich, 2013). The fracking has become so large that it can
now be seen from space at night making this once rural ranching region now
nearly as bright as some of the major US cities (Figure 2). The biggest problem in North Dakota right now
is the fact that after this oil is brought to the surface it brings natural gas
with it, and according to the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources
about 29% of this natural gas is flared (burned off) into the atmosphere since
the oil companies do not see much value in it and it is being done with barely
any regulations. This flaring is what
can be seen from space at nighttime. The
Natural Resource Defense Council states that these North Dakota drillers burn
off enough gas to heat 500,000 homes every day (Krulwich, 2013). To put it into perspective, that is enough
gas to heat a home for every person in New Haven, CT. Unfortunately these flares are only subject
to tax or royalties after 1 year, that being if the state doesn’t already grant
the company(s) extensions. The burning
of this natural gas has brought great concern by the farming industry in how it
is affecting the air and the water. There
have been many complaints by farmers about poisons in the air and water that
harm their crops, this being in a region that is still suffering from a
drought. In North Dakota the rights to
the minerals below the farms were separated from rights to farm land itself
years ago, meaning that much of the fracking is going on without the consent of
farmers and possibly hurting their industry.
There is not much being done by North Dakota policy makers to ensure the
safety and security of the farmers, their land, and their products (Krulwich, 2013).
Figure
2: Fracking field in the North Dakota Bakken formation as seen
from space at night. Image via NASA.
Source: Krulwich, 2013.
There is simply too much that is not
yet known about fracking and its environmental effects. For this reason alone I feel that it should
be highly regulated at least until we do know more about the process,
specifically its emissions and chemicals.
Even though the gas and oil may be cleaner than other sources for fuel
like coal there is still too much of a risk that its pollution threats could
completely negate these benefits. These
regulations and policies need to be made quickly, and by the right people (not just
congress, but including scientific input) as fracking is expanding rapidly at
unprecedented levels. In the mean-time
there needs to be continuous research into other oil and natural gas solutions
that may be safer and can be easily regulated.
With the science and technology of today this is certainly
possible. These regulations and
practices should be done on a state and/or regional level, but if fracking
continues to expand at the level it has been it may be quickly made into a
national issue. Fracking has been linked
to methane gas by the Environmental Protection Agency as it produces
carcinogens like benzene and other volatile organic compounds. If these byproducts can be mitigated or greatly
reduced or captured, then it is possible that fracking could be a decent source
of cheap oil and natural gas, at least until we can find cheaper ways in more
sustainable energy like solar and wind power.
President Obama has taken positive steps in developing an Advisory Board
Shale Gas Production Subcommittee which will hopefully soon bring steps that
the oil producers can immediately begin to reduce air and water pollution
threats (Hart and Weiss, 2011). Being
from Upstate New York and having seen and heard the stories of fracking
pollution, I have signed declarations for policies to be developed properly and
passed quickly by the policy makers in Albany.
As we look for new oil and gas sources we must continuously weigh the expected
benefits with predicted outcomes and find the value in a cost benefit analysis
of not just the economic cost, but the cost on our environment as well as other
industries, like farming.
Sources:
"Causes of Climate
Change." EPA. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 8
Jan. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/causes.html>.
"EWG Says Proposed
NY State Fracking Rules Won't Assure Safety." Environmental Working Group. EWG Public Afffairs, 11 Jan. 2013. Web. 12 Mar.
2013.
<http://www.ewg.org/release/ewg-says-proposed-ny-state-fracking-rules-wont-assure-safety>.
Hart, Melanie, and
Daniel J. Weiss. "Making Fracking Safe in the East and West."Center for American Progress. N.p., 21 Oct.
2011. Web. 11 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/report/2011/10/21/10407/making-fracking-safe-in-the-east-and-west/>.
"Hydraulic Fracturing: The Process." Frac Focus: Chemical Disclosure Registry. N.p., 2013. Web.
12 Mar. 2013.
<http://fracfocus.org/hydraulic-fracturing-how-it-works/hydraulic-fracturing-process>.
Krulwich, Robert.
"A Mysterious Patch Of Light Shows Up In The North Dakota Dark."NPR. NPR, 16 Jan. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2013/01/16/169511949/a-mysterious-patch-of-light-shows-up-in-the-north-dakota-dark>.
Plumer, Brad. "Is
Fracking a 'bridge' to a Clean-energy Future? Earnest Moriz Thinks So." The Washington Post. N.p., 4 Mar. 2013. Web. 12 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/04/is-fracking-a-bridge-to-a-clean-energy-future-ernest-moniz-thinks-so/>.
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