Warren is in oil and gas producing country, so the surrounding mountains and nearby Allegheny National Forrest are filled with oil rigs and pipelines, and more are being drilled. In fact, the original oil rush began in western Pennsylvania in the late 1800's and continues to this day. I often use the access roads as hiking trails, and have a mixed mind as to the environmental, economic and political impact of all the development. There has been violence recently-mostly slashed tires and other mischief- involving disputes between the landowners and oil producers and the Forest service and environmental groups, apparently because of frustration with the federal bureaucracy that restricts what the producers view as personal rights. The latter own the subsurface mineral rights but have to build roads to reach the drill sites, which damages the publicly owned forest. As far as I can determine, the environmental effects are mostly visual, because water quality samples in 1998 of a local stream( Brown Run ) showed no noticeable effects from the oil and gas wells, and air quality in Warren County is rated "good" for 93% of the year. Of course, this relates to the larger questions of whether the nation and the world want to continue extracting fossil fuels or switch to renewables, and those require complicated answers.
Around here, where United refinery, gas and oil exploration, and logging are economically important, the bias is towards development of the mountains, and despite my ecological leanings, I absolutely respect the hard physical labor required to reach some of the remote oil and gas fields. As I hike past them there is an occasional whiff of oil or gas, but no apparent irreversible damage that a hundred years left to nature would not repair. The most damaging spill in the last three years was the deliberate opening of valves by disgruntled, fired employees, so it seems that human nature is always the most pervasive threat. Yet I see bird nests in the old pumps which are rusting away, and the derricks of the 18th century are long gone and their access roads overgrown. The cumulative effects of over consumption may eventually cause planetary damage, and I personally believe solar power will offer the most abundant power supply, but until that day comes, it is clear from the local debate that strong emotions on both sides misrepresent the reality of what needs to be done. Meanwhile I continue to walk or bicycle and turn the lights off...
