I didn’t picture “nothing” because that would be like something out of “The Neverending Story.” There couldn’t be literally nothing because there were at least tar sands.
At that same meeting, people were told that there was no ground water at the site – PR Springs. I thought that if there was no water, then the area really had good PR. Unless there were springs out there, it wouldn’t have that name.
When I got out to the PR Springs campsite, I sat down and read a book, but it was what I heard that amazed me.
The cicadas buzzing constantly in the trees, the songs of several bird species,
As the day wore on, I decided to go for a little hike. By now the cicadas had faded into my background, and the antics of the chipmunks had ceased. Plus, I can only read so much before I need some physical exercise.
I hadn’t gone more than 40 yards before I saw a trot of turkeys. I followed them for a bit, then continued up the hill. While I was watching for snakes, I hadn’t noticed a deer until it leapt up from its resting place not 10 feet from me. It bounded away.
There are buzzards and crows, but there are also robins and members of the Jay family.
The deer came down in the evening to take a drink from the water. A vole or some other ground rodent showed up for dinner.
Clearly, there is not nothing here. There are trees – deciduous and pine. There is a lot of sage, and yes, there is water. It is both above ground and obtainable through a pump. It is potable water; water that is part of the one percent that humans can drink on this planet full of water.
The development of the tar sands threatens all of this natural beauty. If they are willing to lie about the things that people can come and see for themselves, they are also willing to lie about their processes, their chemicals and their intent to return the site to its natural state.
Hunters will lose hunting grounds. Ranchers will lose grazing area, and the world will lose its opportunity to stop climate change.