In Oklahoma, we are now witness to a confluence of events, unintended consequences of perhaps misguided political and business decisions, that are shakin’ the windows and rattlin’ the walls, to paraphrase the great Bob Dylan. And I’m talking actual and metaphorical.
On the actual side, consider this. Prior to 2009, Oklahoma averaged two earthquakes a year of a magnitude greater than 3.0. Last year, there were more than two a day. Cornell University Seismologists studying this say the rise in earthquakes is unprecedented in terms of sheer volume as well as in how fast the number grew. A 60 Minutes investigation revealed that Oklahoma’s biggest industry, Oil and Gas production, is the likely culprit. Why? Because when oil is pumped out of the ground, wastewater comes with it. A lot of wastewater. Billion of gallons of the stuff. So, rather than put the state under water, industry pumps all that wastewater back deep into the ground where it seeps into and around the faults and techtonic plates causing plate shifting which results in all the earthquakes.
A 2015 earthquake study from Stanford University reported:
“Stanford geophysicists have identified the triggering mechanism responsible for the recent spike of earthquakes in parts of Oklahoma – a crucial first step in eventually stopping them,” wrote Ker Than for the Stanford Review.
“In a new study published in the June 19 issue of the journal Science Advances, Stanford Professor Mark Zoback and doctoral student Rall Walsh show that the state’s rising number of earthquakes coincided with dramatic increases in the disposal of salty wastewater into the Arbuckle formation, a 7,000-foot-deep sedimentary formation under Oklahoma.”
As I write this, the U. S. Geological Survey reports a 3.8 magnitude quake hit about 28 miles northeast of Oklahoma City on Sunday. And for good measure, two other slightly less severe quakes struck within eight hours earlier than the 3.8 quake.
On the metaphorical side, a different kind of earthquake, a political one. And by that I mean the abrupt turnaround of Oklahoma’s Governor Mary Fallon and the Republican controlled legislature regarding adopting Obamacare. Seems the state is nearly bankrupt in terms of funding health care. Hospitals and nursing homes face closure. It is a crisis of monumental proportion. But wait – there’s the Obamacare cavalry coming over the crest of the hill! Politicians now realize that federal funding for Medicaid expansion (Governor Fallos says it’s not an “expansion;” it’s a “realignment.”) looks like a pretty good port in the storm. Naturally, critics are lining up to decry the move, but the legislature appears to be coming around to it.
Who knew? Perhaps when next I look out my 3rd story window pigs will be flying by.
Tags: Oklahoma
