Sex Offenders Thrive in Oil and Gas Boom Towns

 At the heart of our energy problems today is a raging political debate: should we continue to expand our ability to extract coal, natural gas, and oil from Earth, or should we turn to technologically complex renewable energies?

Here's an argument for the latter: energy boomtowns have a much higher rate of sex offenders than surrounding communities, according to a new study.

At first glance, both fossils fuels and renewables have benefits. Wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear energies can help us move away from our carbon-emitting ways and prevent global warming. But fossil fuels already keep our lights on and fuels our cars, providing the vast majority of America's energy needs. Increasing exploration can bring jobs and economic prosperity to depressed parts of the country.

But there is a dark side to energy booms (global warming arguments aside). In a startling new research on the natural gas boom in western Wyoming and eastern Idaho, Joel Berger and Jon Beckmann of the Wildlife Conservation Society have found that registered sex offenders are three times more numerous per capita in towns whose economy relies on natural gas mining than communities built around agriculture or recreation (see figure below, from the paper). Their numbers have also grown faster in energy-based towns since 1997, when federally-mandated sex offender registry began.

Wildlife poaching is also far more common in these communities.

The authors argue that the high rate of sex offense is a symptom of broader societal problems in boomtowns. As boomtowns attract large numbers of migrants to high-paying jobs, populations swell precipitously. The drop-off can come just as quickly if resources run out or prices drop -- the Jonah and Pinedale Anticline gas fields in Sublette County, Wyoming now have the lowest number of operating drill rigs since 2005 --  leaving communities broke and dispirited. They write:

As a remedy, Berger and Beckmann hope that in the future, lessons from this part of the country will be used to better plan resource booms elsewhere.

A study like this is also good to keep in mind whenever we listen to energy company executives and politicians crow about how oil, gas, and coal will strengthen a local economy, increase jobs, and keep families intact. Turns out, it's a little more complicated than that.

Source: Conservation Biology, via Science Blog

Image: Sublette County Socioeconomics