I don't think anyone here is saying it can't be done in a way to minimize our exposure to a very large cleanup bill in the future, we're just saying that history would suggest our elected officials don't care about the long-term because they are going to be out of office by then. There's a pretty solid track record to work with here. One doesn't need to look back any farther than the Bakken Boom. Let's issue an unlimited number of drilling permits, overwhelm western ND's infrastructure with truck drivers who couldn't stay employed in their own states, and in general just toss a monkey wrench into everything people loved about western ND. I can't even begin to count the number of native North Dakotans I've met/known who fled their homes out in the Bakken because of the circus it became.
Quick example of what I'm talking about. Back in 2012, I was selling a home up north of Bismarck as I was moving to my current home. I literally hit enter on the BisManOnline ad, packaged up a phone going in for warranty work, and met the first couple interested in looking at the house as I walked to the mailbox. That couple was from Golden Valley county, mid to late 50s and here is what the wife told me about why she was moving to Bismarck. She and her husband were both originally from western ND, owned a farm/ranch operation for years out there, raised their kids who were now on their own (at least one in the Bismarck area). Anyway, their shithead neighbor installed a man camp right across the road from their rural driveway as the Bakken was going nuts. One time too many as the husband was out in the field, she walked out into her frontyard only to find some random methheads sitting in her driveway and she just didn't feel safe out there with her husband out in the field every day. So, she eventually just came to the conclusion that she was moving to Bismarck to escape the shithole man camp next to her house (and to be near her daughter as a bonus). That couple ended up passing on our home, only because the lot wasn't setup well for building an external shop. Ended up selling the place to the couple that showed up a half hour later.
Bottom line, this was a person who had no intention of fleeing her longtime home, but because the state very poorly managed the economic boom of the Bakken, she no longer felt safe in rural Golden Valley county. Being originally from western ND myself, I have for years now been amazed at the number of life-long ND residents moving away from the place they expected to grow old and die in, all because some people placed "jobs" and economic development above the health and well-being of its current citizens.
All ND had to do to prevent the above crapping on its residents was have a little restraint on the number of drilling permits issued. And they refused to do it, all because they wanted the jobs/economic development. They could have drug the good years of the Bakken out for another decade or two, which would have provided great career-long employment opportunities for ND residents, instead they sold us out. This is why so many of us look at opportunities like this with a healthy dose of skepticism.
