Dark Side of the Dakota Oil Boom, Part 1

April 30, 2014

Really terrific coverage of the social costs of the extraction economy, that the Koch Brothers would like to bring to your town.

Part 2 tomorrow.

Posted by greenman3610
Filed in Crock of the Week

4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Dark Side of the Dakota Oil Boom, Part 1”

Michael OBrien Says:

April 30, 2014 at 7:08 am
Aljazeera knows how to explore an issue. They’re very good at it.

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Wes Says:

April 30, 2014 at 10:02 am
Yes, when I flipped over here to read the blog, I was not surprised to see that it was Aljazeera. I’ve come to depend on them for covering the important issues in depth. The major networks, even the cable networks, are so compromised and scandal-oriented that they’re useless. Aljazeera takes the time to dig.

What these folks in the oil boom country will find out is that when the wells dry up the money goes away, but the environmental devastation remains. That’s not only a condemnation of the oil companies, but also a condemnation of the public officials at the city, state and federal level that refuse to hold the oil companies responsible for the damage.

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- jimbills Says:
  
  April 30, 2014 at 1:28 pm
  It’s the nature of both the corporate media and U.S. elections. We are dominated by a corporate-model media that 99% of the time is only going to be interested in providing that info that reinforces their monetary interests (attract views, attract ads, send only positive messages or distractions to keep viewership high, etc.).
  
  In FF rich areas, the politicians are really only focused on their immediate terms. If a city council has a choice between being able to afford a new football field from the new taxes and population growth or if they’re going to maintain the natural beauty of the area for generations, they’re going to pick the former every time (well, almost every time – I know Austin, Texas has some no development zones). Added to that is the force of campaign finance – if they want to get re-elected, a pro-money stance is going to be more beneficial than an environmental protection stance (unless they live in a heavily liberal area).
  
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Dark Side of the Dakota Oil Boom, Part 1 | Sust... Says:

April 30, 2014 at 1:51 pm
[…] Really terrific coverage of the social costs of the extraction economy, that the Koch Brothers would like to bring to your town. Part 2 tomorrow. […]

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