"Drill Baby Drill"

I've been in the Gros Ventre Mountains for the past couple days, mainly just trying to find pronghorn in the high mountain meadows and locating spots where I will set up remote cameras in a couple weeks. I spent last night camped on a high mountain pass with the Wind River Range to the east and the windswept sage steppe of the Upper Green River Basin to the south. This local is equally beautiful as it is full of untapped oil and gas deposits. About 50 miles farther south near the town of Pinedale, energy exploitation is full on and evident. 

 

Before I went to bed last night, I drove up to a hilltop so I could tune into NPR to hear the Republican national convention coverage. It made me tear up as I listened to the crowd at the convention in downtown Minneapolis chant "drill baby drill." I wandered if any one of those people chanting have seen the landscape that I am in, and if it would have changed their opinion on oil and gas exploration. I wish they could see what uncontrolled natural gas drilling looks like, as well as experience the wildness of a place like the undeveloped northern part of the Upper Green River Basin that is currently under siege to be developed. I understand that we need energy resources to continue our way of living, oil and natural gas drive our society. But when are we going to draw the line? I am looking forward to showing you images that will inspire you to draw that line. Until then, best wishes, Joe.