When I open my computer’s desktop window, there is an Internet page about buying new shoes, several blogs based on design, a recipe for Mediterranean pizza pie and a half-finished chemistry lab. This seems like a decent portrait of my interests; fashion, design, cooking and of course, school. With this in mind, it seems unlikely for me to be writing a reflection about natural gas drilling.
Although an interest about the welfare of our planet and sustainability has always been entwined with my life, I have never been one to go out of my way to make a statement about the environment. I have been a vegetarian for about two years and an avid recycler, turn-off-the-water conservationist, but have not gone much further. But, for what I saw on the trip to Bradford County, I am willing to change.
Whether or not natural gas drilling is the right thing, or a healthy thing for the environment, more conversations need to be started; not with my parents' generation, but with my generation. Prior to the trip, I didn't know the first thing about gas drilling. Today, most of it still goes over my head, but I am beginning to understand some of the adverse affects of it.
I am sure that most of my classmates have not even begun to think about whether gas drilling even needs to be discussed; it’s just there. This should be a problem, because the main effects of drilling might not be seen for five or 10 years from now, when people my age might be starting families.
Besides the unseen effects of natural gas drilling, such as the potential contamination to the water supply or the chemicals used for fracking, the most obvious is the seen effects. The footprint of drilling on the landscape is clear if you look at Bradford County. The picturesque landscape is partially destroyed by the drilling pads, heavy equipment, and holding ponds for the water. In one location where the natural gas companies set up, I could almost picture what it had looked like before. Rolling hills, a farmhouse, some cattle grazing. Maybe the picture that I saw in my head was a romanticized version of farm life, but it was destroyed by the reality of drilling. My pastoral picture of farming and the present day picture cannot coexist.
When most of the topics in high school revolve around things that matter today, shouldn't at least some of the things we talk about focus on what is going to matter tomorrow? The media directs topics of environmental issues not to me, but to my parents. But the blame should not be placed solely on my elders, or news stations, but some on me. I don't always listen to talks about the future. With so much of my life wrapped up in today, I do not always think that tomorrow is another day, and a day that I should, and could, be protecting. If the trip to Bradford County taught me anything, it’s that if nothing else changes, I, alone, should be aware and active.
[Savannah Lust is a high school student at Eldred Central School in Eldred, NY. She joined members of The River Reporter staff on their recent trip to Bradford County, PA and reflects on her experience here. We encourage youth commentary on any topics of interest].
