December 17, 2016
Source: Bigstock
For the past several weeks, the residents of the Standing Rock Indian reservation in North Dakota have been protesting against the Bakken pipeline, saying it shouldn”t cross their property because it might destroy the rivers and wildlife. In Texas this would have been a technical problem. Oil pipelines are small and, if properly maintained, safe. To prevent pollution you put cutoff valves every quarter mile or, if you have especially sensitive flora and fauna, every 500 feet. If some aboveground portion of the pipeline is blocking a historic migration route, you build a bushy incline so the elk can get through.
But North Dakota is apparently going the way of California. For years now, California has been the leading consumer of fossil fuels in the nation”using more oil than some entire nations”and yet they don”t want to contribute to drilling, refining, or transport. Oil was one of the major industries of California well into the 1970s, but since then they”ve closed a dozen refineries while refusing to approve new ones, banned offshore drilling, and shown very little interest in exploring the Monterey Shale, exploiting the oil and gas of Marin County, or reopening the proven fields in Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Santa Fe Springs, and Dominguez. The largest California oil refinery, the Chevron facility in El Segundo, was built in 1912.
It’s as though California is saying to the rest of the country, “Sure, we could help, but we”d rather use your oil.”
Like a spoiled brat.
They know what to do with spoiled brats in Texas. They spank “em. That’s pretty much all you need to know about Scott Pruitt.
