The Tangible Effects of Hydraulic Fracturing

          A recent NY Times article addressed the negative effects of "boom" cities created by natural gas  companies (N.G.C.). To recap, this article discusses the increase in violence in the formerly little towns N.G.C. have nested in. A pattern has developed in which N.G.C. set up base in the rural towns with natural gas underfoot. This attracts many people in need of jobs, these people tend to be male and young. Due to the sudden increase in population, there is also a sudden increase in hotels, bars, etc. With this particular demographic taking over the population, drinking and drug consumption ensues. This results in the increase of violence. This wouldn't be such a problem if the police forces were big enough, however the police are used to a smaller population with smaller scale crimes. They are not prepared for the overwhelming number of cases of disappearances and homicides that they are now faced with. This situation is similar to the Gold Rush in the West some time ago, a small rural town is suddenly faced with an increased population and it strains the dynamic and safety of the town.
            So what's to be done? The taxes of residences in these towns could increase to cover the new necessity of police. However this is really a long term solution for a problem that will quickly subside once the N.G.C. abandon the towns. These towns are not sustainable because they are built not upon sustainable jobs, but rather ephemeral jobs. The towns will eventually become ghost towns when the drills dry up and the population subsides. I think it's worth it to build the police department because the damage has already been done and the increased violence needs to be dealt with. Violence has already increased due to an increase in population. This needs to be taken care of and therefore the police department needs to grow in order to meet these demands. However I don't think the tab for an increased police department should be placed upon the citizens, but rather the N.G.C. These companies are the cause of this increased population, and that's nice that they're creating new jobs, but these jobs are also stirring up violence. The N.G.C. shouldn't necessarily pick up the whole bill, but they should have more taxes placed on them to deal with the problems they create.

Here's a political cartoon describing the real jobs that N.G.C. are making:

After reading this article I think the cartoonist should also add "policeman".