This is a tough time for state governments, as many of them face budgetary pressure. Putting the squeeze on various state agencies is one way to cope, and when the phrase du jour is "job-killing," what agencies have a reputation for holding society accountable on the grounds of reality? In Ohio, the state dropped all funding for its geological survey last year. The agency survives in shrunken form by subsisting on grant money. Today's Cleveland Plain Dealer has an article by Peter Mackenzie laying out the details of what the agency does and why the state should resume funding it. (For one thing, Ohio is poised for a shale-gas rush, and "job-killing" is sure to be on the red flags.)
There's no guarantee of long life for geological surveys—many state surveys were founded in the early 1800s but have had their existence interrupted, sometimes for decades—but the arc of history bends toward institutionalizing them. Businesses and their jobs come and go, but Earth abides, and we need agencies with the state's minerals, lands and waters on their agenda.
Related:
Geological surveys and the maps they make
Geology of the 50 states
Comments