Canola. Prairie Potholes, and Big Oil

A few observations while driving across northern North Dakota. 

The following images shows a canola field behind a prairie pothole. Canola is a crop that gained popularity while we lived in North Dakota. As far as I know, canola is used as an oil seed for producing cooking oil. The yellow color makes this crop easy to differentiate from all of the large fields of green you see while driving through the prairie states.

North Dakota contains many prairie potholes. These small water holes form in small depressions and fill with water in the Spring from snow melt. The pothole may or may not dry up in summer depending on how dry the summer has been. Prairie potholes are an important feature of this area of the country as they provide an essential habitat for ducks. Ducks nest in the the water edges offering protection for this type of bird. Ducks migrate to and from this area of the country depending on the time of year to have access to this type of habitat.

Western North Dakota has always had a few oil wells, but has become one of the largest areas for oil extraction with the development of fracking technologies. Fracking is a controversial technology that involves injecting sand and water into well holes under high pressure. The mixture fractures the shale containing oil releasing the oil so that it can be extracted. ND and Canada have oil reserves that can be accessed using this technique. The process is more expensive that other techniques, but represents a supply of oil when the price is right. North Dakota has experienced boom and bust cycles because of changes in the price of oil and my experience at the University within the state varied as a function of whether taxes from oil extraction resulted in paltry or plentiful revenue. The political climate in North Dakota focused on oil taxes as a way to offset taxes to individuals creating swings in revenue available for various functions of tax revenue.