Book Mobiles Are Disappearing

This weekend NPR featured a story about a Vermont town struggling to keep their Bookmobiles operating. It has become very expensive to operate the mobile book rooms, so many have disappeared from the roads of this country.¹

 A long time ago, I drove a Bookmobile one summer. It was the summer of 1977, and I was in need of a job. I was hired to drive one of the Sage Brush Federation Bookmobiles in eastern Montana. There really was not  that wide of variety available on them; most of what was there was for young readers, and adult romances. These were the books that were in demand. Young people and women on the ranches and farms in the area could not get  into the main library when they wanted to pick up something to read. So the Book mobile an opportunity that made their reading a little easier. If the van did not show up in their neighborhood, they would not have things to read..

Now things have changed. First, there are not as many people living int the rural areas of Montana, not other  rural areas. The small farms are disappearing, and not as many people are needed to produce the food and fiber this county needs. So there are not as many people there.

There has also been a paradigm shift in books. Paper book are being replaced with digital editions. Now, while may rural still do not have good internet connections, the new digital books are really not that large of files, so someone even with dial up connection can download books fairly quickly. With libraries now loaning digital books to people, the internet cost is the price of the books.

So with the demand for books decreasing, the need for the big van that are Bookmobiles is passing too. Progress happens, and I will miss seeing them.

The Keystone Pipeline

Recently the Obama administration rejected the Keystone Pipeline. This is not a totally bad event. First, the Republicans tried to force the administration's hand by putting an artificially rushed on the dead line for the issue. It was moving forward, but the opposition party is forcing the administration to make a hurried decision that would not be to the liking of some of its supports; environmentalists and labor are on opposite sides on the pipeline.

The problem with the situation is that the pipeline might cross the Ogallala aquifer in Kansas and Nebraska. The aquifer is a gigantic underground lake, which that part of the country depends upon for water. A lot of agriculture is depended upon this water; our food supply is depended upon it.

Now the recent history of  the oil companies abuse of  the environment is quite stark. BP did a job on the Gulf, which still needs a lot of work. The coast may never be restored to its previous state. BP is certainly getting tired of spending money to fix what they have done. There have been other oil spills that are still causing problems.

A small event occurred at a refinery in Denver, which polluted the water under their plant recently. It was not a big spill, and the aquifer is small, and the refiner needs the water for their own use. However, it is felt that is going to take several years to fix; an aquifer is a matter that takes time to fix.

The Ogallala aquifer being huge and deep would be very hard to fix. So taking a little time to look at the situation is needed. The oil companies are not good at planning; they do do not hold priorities of others as high as they hold their own priorities,so they need to let some outside experts look at their plans. There too much to loose, if something goes wrong...and it will.

The Oil Industry

NPR recently had a story on the amount of oil that is being imported into this country. (Here is the story.) It is interesting that the relative amount of oil the US imports has gone down from about 60% back during George W. Bush's administration to about 49% now, and the predictions for the future is that the amount of oil this country imports is going to continue decreasing for the foreseeable future. Now I am not totally certain what caused the transition. A part of it could be the high prices for gasoline that the country has been experiencing. The high prices have encouraged new exploration and production methods for oil that might not have been as profitable when prices are lower. The higher prices would also influence demand in that people would be buying less gasoline.

There is another story that I want to look at on this subject. It seems that about 60% of the federal lands that are being lease are neither producing oil nor under developed for oil production. They are just sitting there unused. (Here is the store.)

The problem I have with these revelations is that you would expect from all the noise the oil industry has been making about need for more areas opened; they want such areas as the Artic Wildlife Refuge and areas adjacent to National Parks opened to drilling. I don't feel that the oil companies can be trusted, when they present their needs. They always are seeking to control more than what they need.

Wal-mart and Small Towns

Miles City, MT is a small town. When I was young there were a variety of retains stores that provided the residences of the town with what they needed. However, since that time, the town has acquired a Wal-mart. It has put out of business a lot of the small stores that had been part of the community. However, I saw something very strange today, when I went into the store. Several of the display cases were less than 10% full. It is the middle of a three day weekend, and they were running very short on several things. In particular the meat counter was very empty. The economy hot dogs they offer were down to the last couple of dozen packages. There were few chickens and other meats that would be nice grill. There were also other areas such as toilet paper, and household cleaners that had shelves that were not totally stocked.What I looked like to me was that Wal-mart had over built their presents in the town and was now pulling back on the store. They built a large store, but the sales did not match the expectations, and now they were not placing the product on the shelves. They seem to be contacting their presents in the town. I don't see much good happening from this.

Credit Cards

Today I got a very stupid letter in the mail. Now you must remember that I am unemployed and fairly deep in debt, and MasterCard feels that I need to have another one of their cards. I have been Pre-selected for this card, and I may it in one of 16 designs, including one of a cute little kitten. There was also a cardboard replica of the card. I just can't understand the idea of the offer.