Kill the man to heal the cough...

With EPA investigations and regulatory action looming, I wonder if more harm will be done to the environment in order to accomplish more ahead of schedule.  Wouldn’t that be ironic (the undesired unintended consequences of government involvement to protect against environmental corruption actually causing its aggressive progression)?

“Oil production in the Bakken shale formation is making unemployment virtually nonexistent in North Dakota.  With 200 rigs pumping 440,000 barrels of oil per day, the state's unemployment rate is holding at 3.5 percent.  Many of the jobs pay exceptionally well, with high school graduates making more than $100,000 per year, says the Heartland Institute.”

….

“We have 18,000 jobs looking for people,” North Dakota Rep. Rich Berg (R) told the Hill, noting, ‘if our country’s GDP grew at 7 percent, as it does in [my] state, most of our problems would be over in two years.’”

Abbreviated Article:  http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=21507

Full Article:  http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2011/12/20/oil-production-keeps-recession-bay-north-dakota