Jumat, 14 September 2012

Oil and Gas Drilling Could Soon Take Place in 42 National Parks Across the US


According to a new report made public by the Center for American Progress, drilling activities meant to extract oil and gas are already being carried out either in or close to twelve national parks in this country, and many other wildlife sanctuaries stand to soon face the consequences of this industry's planned expansion.

More precisely, if various oil and gas companies are to have their demands met by high officials, drilling operations will soon be performed in as many as 42 national parks across the US.

Tree Hugger informs us that the Center for American Progress saw fit to issue this warning after looking into data provided by the US National Park Service.

As they put it in their report, “We requested data from the National Park Service, which identified 42 park units where non-federal oil and gas drilling is or could be occurring in the future.”

Furthermore, “Of these, 12 units currently have oil and gas operations within them,1 while 30 units may be threatened in the future with drilling."

National parks are presumably meant to help protect national flora and fauna, and therefore are of utmost importance both as far as safeguarding biodiversity is concerned, and in terms of seeing to the protection of the country's cultural heritage.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that not just environmentalists and conservationists should spare some minutes to ponder on how the oil and gas industry stands to affect them in the not so distant future, but also ordinary folks.

More so seeing how, as explained by the people who released this report, drilling is not just about disturbing the underground in order to extract said resources.

It is also about building access roads, having pipelines installed and interfering with natural ecosystems to accommodate the new infrastructure.

Not to mention the fact that, when it comes to oil, there is always the risk of accidental spills.

Via: Oil and Gas Drilling Could Soon Take Place in 42 National Parks Across the US

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