Summary

Note – Author Griswold briefly narrates the geological history of the fossil fuel reserves below the earth’s surface in the Appalachia region of Pennsylvania, and how over the years industries and mining operations have accessed those reserves in a variety of ways. “America’s answer to its energy needs,” she says, “has always been to dig deeper; the question was how” (4). She also describes ways in which the various means of fossil fuel extraction deployed in the region has led to waves of prosperity for the region alternating with waves of relative impoverishment, and how the people living in the area have become very well versed on the science and the economics of fossil fuel extraction. She also makes the observation that “Exploiting energy often involves exploiting people” (5).

Griswold then describes how, in the recent years leading up to the present day, the...