Faces and Stories

In Fort Garland, Colorado, we had a stay day and camped for two nights across the street from the old fort, which is now a museum. On the second day locals came to visit us at the museum, and we spoke to each other and watched a documentary together.

That day I gave a speech (which you can view here), and afterward many people approached me individually and told me how much I had inspired them and how much my words had resonated with their own lives. I was deeply touched, and all I could say in response was how they were the inspiring ones, not me.

Fort Garland was my first one-on-one interaction with locals along the route since starting my journey in Taos, NM. In my speech, which was unplanned, I told them about what was happening at my own home with the threat of dangerous gas storage looming over my lake. After telling my story, I made a promise I had not expected to make — I told the people of Fort Garland that just as I had given them my story, I would take their stories and carry them with me as I walked. Their stories have renewed my passion, and I want to share some of them here.

Activism Spotlight: Protesting Arctic Drilling

Drilling in the Arctic is a big issue right now- the Arctic is one of the last great wildernesses in the world, and is home to polar bears, caribou, Arctic foxes, whales, seals, and much more. Not only does the Arctic house amazing creatures, but the ice reflects massive amounts of sunlight back into space, keeping the Earth cool. If we drill in the Arctic, we risk polluting and damaging an important ecosystem that is already melting away from global warming. As recently as this week, I’ve signed petitions demanding that the Arctic be left alone, along with thousands of other people. I’m sure many have sent letters and called their representatives on the issue. Several organizations are working hard to keep oil companies out of the North Pole.

However, six Greenpeace activists went above and beyond with their advocacy for the Arctic in London. They did much more than make a phone call or sign a petition. They made quite the scene: on July 11th, friends Wiola Smul, Ali Garrigan, Sabine Huyghe, Sandra Lamborn, Victoria Henry, and Liesbeth Deddens climbed the tallest building in Europe, the Shard, to protest drilling in the Arctic. They began their climb in the early morning and reached the top at approximately 7:10pm, where they were promptly arrested for aggravated trespass.

Ecofriendly Economics & Harsh Facts: Drilling

Harsh Facts of the Week

American offshore oil drilling extracts about 1.5 million barrels a day. In comparison, the current daily oil consumption of the United States is 21 million barrels.

Drilling technologies have improved, leading to less spill occurrences. However, at current extraction rates, predictions indicate that in the Gulf of Mexico over the next forty years, there will be one oil spill per year of at least 1,000 barrels.

An average hydraulic fracturing (fracking) well requires three to eight million gallons of water over its lifetime.

In 2011, France became the first nation to ban hydraulic fracturing. 

Natural gas extracted by fracking may have a significant environmental advantage over coal mining; when burned, shale (natural) gas emits half the carbon dioxide per unit of energy as coal. Regardless, fracking adds greenhouse gases to the atmosphere through extraction leakage and emissions from burning natural gas. Methane, a greenhouse gas about twenty times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, can leak during hydraulic fracturing. So, it is unclear which is potentially “healthier” for the environment.

Fracking for natural gas provides major economic advantages and allows access to stores of fuel that otherwise would have remained untouched. If you read up on the topic, you’ll find that hydraulic fracturing has disadvantages and advantages, both of which can be heavily and extensively argued. While fracking supporters provide some solid defenses, I still find myself opposed to fracking for one major, overlaying reason.

Our Earth’s fuel resources are limited. Finding new places and ways to obtain it is helpful in the short run. However, in the long run, we’ll eventually be left high and dry, or we’ll suffocate on our own fumes, whichever comes first. Every time the sun shines, a wind blows, and a river flows, there’s raw energy that can be tapped into, perhaps indefinitely so. I want my country, and at the very least, New York State, to realize the superior long term benefits of focusing on renewable energy, rather than temporary solutions to the energy crisis. Instead of pouring oceans of money into lobbying, promoting, developing, and executing fracking, I want the efforts to be shifted to renewable. Developing renewable energy can provide just as many jobs and will be more economical and ethical to carry out than harvesting fossil fuels.

Most importantly, renewable sources are the only reliable way to provide energy to the masses without further damaging the environment. It’s such a simple, healthy concept. So why is a big chunk of society and business fighting back against its evolution? 

We have an addiction to fuel, all of us, myself included.  I’m ready to beat my addiction. That’s why I traveled to Albany today and rallied in the capitol against fracking for over three hours. The details of my experience will be described in a separate post.