There Are Two Earthquakes a Day in Oklahoma and Erin Brockovich Thinks ‘Big Oil’ is To Blame

OKLAHOMA ROAD DAMAGE FROM RECENT EARTHQUAKE

The state of Oklahoma has seen a severe spike in earthquakes of 3.0 magnitude or higher since 2008, when energy companies ramped up their hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for oil and gas in the state, says George Choy, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Boulder, Colorado.

The number of 3.0 magnitude quakes rose from 2 in 2008 to 889 last year, according to USGS statistics. So far this year, there have been 572. That means in 2016, there was an average of 2.4 earthquakes every day in the state.

The formidable Erin Brokovich is even on this case, and we all know she loves a good fight for justice and usually wins the fight. The local newspaper, Shawnee News-Star put her involvement this way:

“Environmental and consumer advocate Erin Brockovich, Weitz & Luxenberg and economic experts will visit Shawnee to meet with local residents affected by human-induced earthquakes and discuss the health, safety and economic impacts of these events. Brockovich will address residents at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 7, in Sarkeys Performing Arts Center at St. Gregory’s University, 1900 W. MacArthur St.”

Of course, such issues will only rise under the Trump administration, as the man makes George W. Bush look like a ‘tree hugger.’

Forbes sums it up this way:

“By any stretch of anyone’s imagination, it is fair to say the lead up to, as well as the first few days of the Donald Trump administration have been nothing short of spectacular for U.S. Oil and Gas Inc. Barely hours after Trump had taken office as the 45th President of the USA, an overhauled White House website proudly declared its new found pro energy industry credentials. Guidance on climate change – a key feature of the Obama administration’s policy framework – was swiftly erased from the site.

Then three days into his presidency, Trump gave his explicit backing to two controversial pipeline projects – Keystone XL and Dakota Access – provided American steel is used in their construction giving his “America First Energy Plan” a novel dimension. How could you possibly trump the wider appeal of projects boosting the country’s energy industry, providing jobs and utilizing domestic steel to boot.”

What does all of this mean? It likely means we all need to start paying attention to the road on which we are driving, as that ‘road’ may literally be a dead end.