The oil and natural gas fields of the rural West -- from North Dakota to Wyoming to Colorado and Utah -- have produced thousands of jobs and brought great prosperity to communities and families alike. But there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Energy development has also brought ill consequences: high crime, drugs, adverse health conditions, poor air quality and environmental degradation. Tuesday on RadioWest we’ll discuss the social and cultural effects, both positive and negative, of energy development in the rural West.
- Watch a documentary about the American West's New Energy Frontier produced by the Rural West Initiative, a project of the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University.
- Read articles about energy development in Utah's Uinta Basin by Mary Bernard, energy reporter at the Vernal Express.
Other Resources:
- NPR's Special Series, The Fracking Boom
Today's Music:
- Darol Anger And The American Fiddle Ensemble, Higher Ground
- José González, Veneer
- Casey Driessen, Lunar Cages