On The Plains, The Rush For Oil Has Changed Everything
1–10 of 42 posts
Re: On The Plains, The Rush For Oil Has Changed Everything
#2(Grew up in ND, live in SD now)
At one time starting wages were $100k/year, but I don't know anyone starting that high nowadays, except maybe strippers.
The "man camps" are pretty horrible and most people blow their pay on booze and girls before they leave. It's really depressing.
Re: On The Plains, The Rush For Oil Has Changed Everything
#3(Grew up in ND, live in SD now) At one time starting wages were $100k/year, but I don't know anyone starting that high nowadays, except maybe strippers. The "man camps" are pretty horrible and most people blow their pay on booze and girls before they leave. It's really depressing.
Sounds a lot like the Paradox of Plenty [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse]. ND is fixated on the oil industry to the detriment of absolutely everything else.
Hell, aren't they just burning all the extracted natural gas because it's basically a distraction from the liquid crude? There was an terribly sad update of the "Earth at Night" satellite image showing ND lit up like a Christmas Tree.
Re: On The Plains, The Rush For Oil Has Changed Everything
#4Heh it's exactly like the rural towns that get turned into mining towns here in Australia. I've worked as a labourer out there with my dad (he's a civil engineer, works on the roads out in these towns). They start as a tiny rural area, developed into a boom-bust town that caters to the fly-in-fly-out workers who come in to work for 6 figures. Then the mine closes, and the town is left as a shadow of its former self, but with so much extra real estate, empty shops, and closed bars (apart from one or two). It's curious to watch.
Re: On The Plains, The Rush For Oil Has Changed Everything
#5That animated GIF near the bottom of the article is super creepy.
Re: On The Plains, The Rush For Oil Has Changed Everything
#6(Grew up in ND, live in SD now) At one time starting wages were $100k/year, but I don't know anyone starting that high nowadays, except maybe strippers. The "man camps" are pretty horrible and most people blow their pay on booze and girls before they leave. It's really depressing.
Sounds a lot like the Paradox of Plenty [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse ]. ND is fixated on the oil industry to the detriment of absolutely everything else. Hell, aren't they just burning all the extracted natural gas because it's basically a distraction from the liquid crude? There was an terribly sad update of the "Earth at Night" satellite image showing ND lit up like a Christmas Tree.
They need to send some people to Norway to learn how it's done: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/99680a04-92a0-11de-b63b-00144... (Google the URL and click on the link to bypass the paywall, or read it here: http://pastebin.com/055t6hiM).
Re: On The Plains, The Rush For Oil Has Changed Everything
#7(Grew up in ND, live in SD now) At one time starting wages were $100k/year, but I don't know anyone starting that high nowadays, except maybe strippers. The "man camps" are pretty horrible and most people blow their pay on booze and girls before they leave. It's really depressing.
Sounds a lot like the Paradox of Plenty [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse ]. ND is fixated on the oil industry to the detriment of absolutely everything else. Hell, aren't they just burning all the extracted natural gas because it's basically a distraction from the liquid crude? There was an terribly sad update of the "Earth at Night" satellite image showing ND lit up like a Christmas Tree.
From my limited understanding it's not profitable enough to capture and transport the burn off.
Re: On The Plains, The Rush For Oil Has Changed Everything
#8Heh it's exactly like the rural towns that get turned into mining towns here in Australia. I've worked as a labourer out there with my dad (he's a civil engineer, works on the roads out in these towns). They start as a tiny rural area, developed into a boom-bust town that caters to the fly-in-fly-out workers who come in to work for 6 figures. Then the mine closes, and the town is left as a shadow of its former self,…
In the deserts of California, there are many towns that were booming during the various gold/silver/etc booms and now are, if they still exist, a mere shadow of themselves. The town of Darwin, CA is one that I was talking with someone about recently...Circa 1900, several thousand people, 2010 census - 43.
Re: On The Plains, The Rush For Oil Has Changed Everything
#9That animated GIF near the bottom of the article is super creepy.
I know! Is this some new NPR web thing? I think I prefer the Times' full-screen hard-to-control multimedia extravaganzas. At least they look good. :b
Re: On The Plains, The Rush For Oil Has Changed Everything
#10(Grew up in ND, live in SD now) At one time starting wages were $100k/year, but I don't know anyone starting that high nowadays, except maybe strippers. The "man camps" are pretty horrible and most people blow their pay on booze and girls before they leave. It's really depressing.
Welders still get that, truck drivers with some OT.
The local towns will probably have the housing in the next year so the camps will be gone. Sewage planning is an amazingly complicated process. Also, the road changes to loop around towns are going to help.