Oil–and tapping into infinite resources

BY LYNN AND ASHTON JACKSON

For centuries countries have fought over the possession of oil-rich land and resources. Yet, it has become obvious that the trend of drilling until a well runs dry, and then starting all over again somewhere else, can't continue indefinitely. Despite the discovery in 2006 of the largest untapped oil reserve in the world located in the Rocky Mountains, issues remain to be worked out.

There is reportedly four times more oil shale in the United States than in all other countries combined. This supply is beneath the Green River Formation throughout Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. But oil shale recovery impacts air and water quality and global warming, emitting greenhouse gases and opening the question of how to dispose of the huge quantities of spent shale.

Another factor in the oil industry is that working in and living around refineries has resulted in numerous health issues for employees. A study in Great Britain, for instance, tracked 45,000 oil refinery and petroleum distribution workers over a period of several years. The result was those who worked in refineries showed "significantly elevated" rates of certain illnesses as compared to the general population.

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