It may be a little on the nose to say that oil is quickly becoming a fossil in the energy industry, but today it earned one more notch on its “time to retire” board. Thanks to a hazard map released today by the U.S. Geological Survey (the USGS), Oklahoma is on its way to danger because of man-made earthquakes created by the oil industry.
Earthquakes haven’t been a huge problem for this region–mostly northern Oklahoma and a little of southern Kansas–but recently the state has been receiving far too many tremors, as a result of human-induced seismic activity. As reported by the USGS, the oil and gas industry has been injecting toxic wastewater thousands of feet into the ground as a way of cheaply disposing of unwanted fluids. And just like any other poorly-handled rush-job, this is causing what could be harmless tremors to build in both frequency and scale.
So far, the USGS doesn’t expect the heart of the U.S. to have apocalyptic earthquakes anytime soon. But that doesn’t mean the region is in the clear. The damage will still effect citizens over time, thanks to constant tectonic shaking slowly wearing down the integrity of buildings. Each of these quakes may not be visually destructive on their own, but over the course of half a century, buildings and roads are projected to receive enough structural damage to require constant upkeep. This could lead to higher insurance rates, stricter building codes, land-use planning and more.
More importantly, this is not the result of a seismic fault or some horrible natural disaster: this is on us. Seven million people now face the same danger as Californian regions on the San Andreas fault, and this may be irreversible. Worse yet, if these irresponsible practices continue, the tremors could become worse. This last week alone came with eight earthquakes with a magnitude over 3.0.
It’s time to hang it up. Oil is outdated. The industry has been doing more harm financially and environmentally than ever before, and it’s just not worthwhile anymore. It’s also time to hold businesses accountable for long-term damage. We may not see it now, but those people in Oklahoma are going to have some big problems over the next few decades. And some big bills. Who should pay for it? And who will actually end up paying for it? It’s time to start thinking long-term progress over short-term financial gain. Or else we better start hurrying up on space colonization soon: we’re going to need it.