A Plan to Drill Roan Plateau Meets Resistance
Quarter 1 Article 4
NY times
Miller chapter
The area covered is national.
Energy companies want to tap the rich natural gas resources under Colorado's Roan Plateau, but a coalition of sportsmen and environmentalists want it preserved for wildlife and recreation. Sporting and environmental groups are suing the government in federal court, demanding that the leases be thrown out, and a preliminary ruling is expected this fall. However, they are going against a powerful economic incentive to develop new supplies of oil and gas. Expanded gas outputs also offers a plethora of envirnomental benefits. Burning natural gas emits less carbon dioxide than burning other fossil fuels, and many experts argue that substitution of gas for dirtier fuels should be a major strategy to reduce the nation’s contribution to global warming.
My opinion is that taping rich natural gas resources is better than mining oil for energy. However, if it is at the cost of eliminating a natural landscape that is valued by many people, then it should be reconsidered. I think that the energy company should be stopped from taping the Roan Plateau and try to find another area, that perhaps is not as important to the people.
Vocabulary-
plateau- a land area having a relatively level surface considerably raised above adjoining land on at least one side, and often cut by deep canyons.
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