Greed capitalizes on scarcity
Saturday, February 24, 2007 12:00 AM MST
Editor:
Benjamin Franklin once said, "We'll know the value of the water when the well runs dry." Just what is today's value of water compared to methane gas? As a young person growing up in Montana, I never would have believed that in my lifetime I would be buying drinking water.
We would be fools to stand by and let any coal-bed methane development company own water rights under the guise of putting it to "beneficial use." Make no mistake, once this objective is achieved this water becomes a bigger asset than the gas, as its value is fast outpacing the demand for methane gas.
The split-estate law has made it very easy for CBM developers to employ the "divide and conquer" strategy: pitting neighbor against neighbor in the ranching and farming communities of Montana and Wyoming, neighbors who still value relationships with each other and our environment.
I sincerely empathize with those who desperately need water and are able to put this coal-bed methane water to beneficial use for watering livestock. Who can blame them? However, it is Mother Nature herself who holds the trump card in this high-risk game.
As appealing as this new source of water is, it is nothing but a quick fix for the prolonged drought we are in. What the CBM developers offer is a shameful, predatory, almost seductive exploitation of our most vulnerable and valuable assets -- all under the guise of being able to put this water to beneficial use.
We need to ask: What if the well goes dry? What kind of logic makes it OK for any entity to rapidly dehydrate our planet? The only force strong enough to undertake such unconscionable activity is unchecked greed. It is truly amazing how easily the laws can be manipulated with this evil power.
As our population increases, there will be inevitable growing pains and conflicts. In order to minimize the negative impacts, we need to proceed with respect for what it takes to sustain life locally and globally on this planet, not in a hoarding sense but in a far-sighted, practical sense.
In other words, we need to anticipate a worst-case scenario and put stop gaps in place should that occur. Just ask the people who are experiencing significant negative impacts throughout the entire Powder River Basin as a direct result of coal-bed methane development.
DENISE S. WOOD, Birney, Mont.
Diamond Cross Ranch |
