EPA: Natural Gas Fracking Linked to Water Contamination Synthesis

Near the town of Pavillion, people have been drinking contaminated water for years. The Environmental Protection Agency has roughly concluded that the contamination was due to natural gas fracking.

            When EPA conducted their first tests in Wyoming, they concluded that the problems with the cement and water pollution are not connected to fracking because there were many other factors that should be taken into consideration.

            In the mid-1990s, many residents in the area started to complain about the water near Pavillion. Later in 2004, situations continued to get worse. “Several residents complained that their well water turned brown shortly after gas wells were fracked nearby” (EPA) In 2008, EPA came back and started a new round of tests. They concluded that the water was highly contaminated; residents should stop drinking from the wells around them because they could get poisoned; it might even cause explosion because of the amount of methane that was in the water. At the end, the EPA concluded that the contamination of water was caused by fracking because the wells in the area were “fracked at shallower depths than many of the wells in the Marcellus shale and elsewhere” (EPA).

            When the government officials asked to see a detailed breakdown of every compound used underground, the fracking company declined the request. They also accused the EPA for not being consistent with their labels and data.

            Fracking is risky after all because nobody can guarantee everything will work out perfectly. Right now, no decision has been made yet, the EPA’s finding is scheduled to be peer reviewed. 

Kahn's essay and class discussion

On Tuesday, we talked about our current education system in class. I think our current education system is not very fair but it is reasonable at the same time. It is unfair for people who worked hard enough but do not have the money that the higher ranked private colleges require. I also think it is reasonable because this world runs on the principle of survival of the fittest, the best ones are always on the top of the society. Even though our education system is not fair, I still think that our future is not entirely depended on college education. In order to be on top of the society, one needs to be creative and original. Some people have the opportunities to go to better colleges are because they are only book smart, but that will not get them very far. They might not have the strength to compete with some one who is creative in his/her field.

In Kahn’s essay, he criticizes how the current education system does not care about gaining real life experiences and only focuses on textbooks and tests. There is too much knowledge that textbooks cannot teach the students, knowledge that can only be gained from exploring and experiencing.

Kahn concentrated his essay mainly on environmental and ecological issues. He agrees with Gregory Bateson’s theory that “the code for understanding the basic ecological unit of survival is ‘organism plus environment’” (Kahn 1). This means that organisms and the environment are inseparable, all organisms are equally important. Humans are not the rulers of the planet; we are only sharing the planet with all the other living creatures. 

Turtle Island #3

In Turtle Island, Snyder praises Earth and criticizes human behaviors. In his poem “The Great Mother”, he talks about the final judgment for humans. Mother Earth knows what everybody has done to nature and how we destructed it. Hurting the environment is a sin and people who have done great damages to earth should not expect to get away with the punishment easily.

In “By Frazier Creek Falls” talks about the fact that nothing is more beautiful than nature itself. We need no clothes or tools because the beauty of nature is all there is; we only need to open our heart and enjoy it and be part of it.

In “The Wild Mushroom”, Snyder reflects the power of nature by writing about wild mushrooms. Wild mushrooms might seem very small and weak but they are poisonous and can be fatal. Humans are not the ultimate dominator of Earth, even mushrooms can kill people easily; we are just part of Earth like everything else. Everything on Earth has its own value, everything is equally important, thus we should respect them and treat them friendly. 

Themes in Turtle Island #2

            The theme of Synder’s poem “Control Burn” (P.19) is to protect the forest. The Indians used to “burn out the brush every year” to help the trees and grasses grow, but nowadays, humans as a whole do not pay much attention to the forests anymore (19). Instead of setting small fires to help the forests grow, large and harmful fires caused by heat and other wastes are destroying the forests.

            In the poem “Bedrock”, Synder praises the beauty of nature. He tries to remind us the fact that every aspect of nature has its own beauty, even the bedrock. Earth has given us so much; we should all start to learn to enjoy it and to love it.

            Snyder’s poem “Tomorrow’s Song” discusses the future of the US, the future of humans, and even the future of the planet. It talks about what humans have done to earth. People need to start taking actions to protect the environment. He suggests that we should use less fossil fuel and start saving energy so that we would not destroy our own future. 

Turtle Island

“The Call of The Wild”

The theme of “The Call of The Wild” is animal protection and war prevention. In this poem, Snyder expresses his thoughts through the angle of an old man who has been living in the forest his whole life. He blames the government for trapping and killing the coyotes in the forest. As the humans are fighting each other, the lives and homes of the coyotes and other animals are also being destroyed.

“Prayer for the Great Family” and “O Waters”

The theme of “Prayer of the Great Family” and “O Waters” is to praise earth and nature. Snyder lists many wonderful resources that our mother earth provides us, such as plants, air, water, the sun, wild beings and the sky. He praises the beauty of them and how fortunate we are to have them and to be able to enjoy them. In his poem “O Waters”, Snyder specifically talks about water and the fact that it runs everywhere and washes away everything.