Posted: June 17th, 2015

Managing Earth’s Natural Resources

Lesson 5: Natural Resources: Spheres of the Environment
In Lesson 5 you learn about the four spheres of the environment and modifications that humans make to otherwise natural systems. You also learn about some of the ways people use these spheres, for agriculture, industry, recreation, transportation, and so on. Additionally, you learn in Lesson 9 about hydraulic fracturing (often referred to as fracking) as a way to obtain natural gas.
In this writing assignment you will explore what happens when a political border, and one’s geography, determines the difference between economic (and perhaps environmental) boom or bust with regard to the earth’s natural landscape and resources, which do not adhere to boundaries.
Dilemma: Fracking in the New York-Pennsylvania border Region
Background:
Steuben County is in a rural area of western New York on the border of Pennsylvania, and home to Vitale’s Organic Farm and its owner/operator Neil Vitale. Just across the border from Mr. Vitale, in Columbia Crossroads, Pennsylvania, is Jim Van Blarcom and his Sugar Branch farm. Both properties sit atop of a natural gas deposit, but only one property owner is prospering. The Governor of New York banned hydraulic fracturing in New York, while it remains legal in Pennsylvania. Hard times for farmers, and rural towns in general, have led many to look for other revenue streams and, in this case, Van Blarcom is making the most of his geography, while Vitale is denouncing his.
(1) Begin this assignment by reading “A border tale of boom and bust”, an article published in The Buffalo News in May of 2015.
(2) Now, weigh in on controversy. First, choose your side, a stakeholder (such as a fellow property owner, academic, environmental worker, farmer, and so on) who supports the fracking ban in New York and would like to see Pennsylvania follow suit and ban fracking, or a supporter of Mr. Vitale (like a business owner or fellow landowner) who feels he, and others like him, deserve to prosper from the resources of their land, just like his Pennsylvania neighbors.
Now write a letter to either Governor Andrew Cuomo (New York) or Governor Tom Wolf (Pennsylvania). The addresses are as follows.
The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
New York State Capitol Building
Executive Chamber
Albany, New York 12224
The Honorable Tom Wolf
Governor’s Correspondence Office
508 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Your response should be in letter format, using first-person voice, and offer your valued and knowledgeable input to persuade the Governor to act. Again, you must choose a side as either (1) a stakeholder who opposes fracking and new permits for fracking (2) a supporter of fracking and new fracking permits for landowners in New York.
A few things to keep in mind. While it is admirable to want to protect the environment at any and all cost or pad the bank account of a small-town farmer who has fallen on hard times, you must look at the whole of the evidence and weigh both sides carefully before choosing a side to staunchly defend. Although this is in many ways an opinion piece, your support should not be based solely on opinion and speculation (for example, “fracking destroys the forests and water!”), but rather on facts supported by the evidence in favor of and against fracking. More specifically, your letter should include the following.
a. Two pieces of evidence that support your side from a source or sources other than the article you were asked to read above (see tip below).
b. Two pieces of evidence that illustrate why supporting the other side harms Pennsylvania and its residents or New York and its residents, from a source or sources other than the article you were asked to read (see tip below).
c. Your stake in the matter. What is your point of view? It might that of a concerned local resident (be specific about why you are concerned), leader of an environmental group (again, be specific about your role and your group’s mission), a business owner, or someone else, just be sure you are specific about why you have taken an interest and your position.
*Tip*
You should devote one or two sentences to introducing yourself, where you live (that is, the setting), and the stake you have in the debate, whether is be political, economic, social, or environmental. In closing, devote two sentences to tying up the letter and reaffirming the crux of the matter. I encourage you to have a little fun with it, perhaps including the occupation or background of the letter writer (that is, your character), while staying true to the academic nature of this exercise. As always, you are strongly encouraged to use material beyond the course readings. It is highly recommended that you have a minimum of 2-3 credible sources, such as local and national newspapers, in addition to the article above.
Technicalities:
Crafting a short, concise response is often harder than a long response! Responses should be kept between 500-700 words. At the very beginning of your response, please type your word count in parentheses, for example: (Word count: 599).
Be sure to use correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, and fully answer the question to gain maximum points on this assignment. These assignments are worth 10 points each and will be graded based on how well you answer the question (see the associated grading rubric in the Writing Assignment folder) and meet the criteria provided for you on the grading rubric. Writing quality, however, is very important and will weigh significantly in determining your grade.
Any outside sources (including the online lessons) used to develop your response must have an accompanying citation. Be sure to also include a works cited page that is consistent with the citation style used to write your paper. Plagiarism, in any form, will not be tolerated and will result in a ZERO for the paper (see syllabus for details about plagiarism). (NOTE: If you receive a zero for plagiarism, you cannot drop that assignment grade if applicable.) We scan all documents to detect unoriginal (that is, potentially plagiarized) content.
Information found in Wikipedia is helpful when working on papers. However, because everyone can edit it (that is, it is a wiki), the information be faulty or biased (not unlike other mass media). Therefore, I urge you not to rely on Wikipedia as your exclusive source when doing research for papers. Look elsewhere–this will help confirm and substantiate material you may have found on Wikipedia. If you rely on Wikipedia for your response, you will be downgraded.
*Tip*
We highly recommend that you use your online lessons as source for your assignment response. Please provide an appropriate in-text citation (for example: Lesson X, page X). Remember that the point of these writing assignments is to get you to make connections or linkages from the lesson content to your own life. It would, therefore, be beneficial to you to keep this in mind as you draft your response.
Late assignments:
If you do not submit an assignment by the due date, you have 24 hours (after the due date) to contact your Instructor to explain your situation AND submit your late response. Responses submitted within this 24-hour window will be worth only half credit; in other words, the most you can earn for a late response is 12.5 points. You will receive 0 points for all responses submitted after the 24-hour window.