Just A little More – Thoughts From The Middle of Nowhere

I read a letter to the editor of the Billings Gazette that I had to comment on. n n<a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/12/10/opinion/letters/42-methane.txt" >Coalbed methane development supported</a> n nThe letter throws out a lot of interesting numbers on why we should support Coal Bed Methane (CBM) development. The final sentence though is a little incomplete in my opinion and could use a hand. n n<blockquote>Coalbed methane is a safe, ready, valuable, natural resource many citizens of Southeastern Montana want.</blockquote> n nHere's how I think it should read. n n"Coalbed methane is a safe, ready, valuable, natural resource many citizens of Southeastern Montana want" which will only benefit the owners of the land and cause Southeastern Montana to lose more of one of the most precious resources it has, water. This loss of Water will cause agricultural enterprises throughout this extremely dry corner of the state to wither and die taking what little support industries in the small towns with them depopulating the whole corner of the state. It will turn into the American "Big Dry Desert" and later generations will be able to visually see how short sighted people wanting a quick profit caused massive damage to land on a scale never before seen. n nI think that about covers how it should have been finished. CBM development will kill agriculture production in this whole corner of the state. Is the economic consequence of that taken into account by their figures? NO. The short term gains are not worth the long term risks here. That's one of the many things I meant in <a href="http://nowherethoughts.net/sarpysam/archives/2257-Different-Doctors-or-Different-Attitudes.html">this post</a> when I said "The quick solution isn't always the right one. Think about it." n nCompanies making all kinds of claims and promises, and of course, everyone is looking for a quick fix. But you know, there are no quick fixes. Jenny Craig