Talk about sustainable energy sources! No one bothered to pump water back in to be used again and the slow trickle of steam forced some competitors out of business. Bigger power companies bought them up and narrowed the number of holes to about 350, dropping the output to near 1,000 megawatts. That's still a nice non-polluting energy contribution for the area.

Mother nature's steam is free but there is a finite amount available. A layer of hot rocks heated by magma below produces the steam 5,000 to 10,000 feet below the surface. The rocks are covered by a softer sandstone with another layer of denser rock on top. Water is absorbed by the sandstone and heated, creating steam that is trapped inside by the top layer. Holes are drilled, penetrating the rock and the steam piped to the surface where it turns turbine power generators.

In 1999 Calpine the largest producer bought out most all competitors. The company now runs 19 of a total of 21 powerhouses in the Geysers field and sends about 850 megawatts to San Francisco and other local communities. A consortium that includes the towns of Palo Alto and Healdsburg runs the remaining 2.

In 1997 power companies started to pump water from a nearby lake and a sewage water treatment plant in to the steam fields. This water injection is then heated and "flashes" into steam enabling more steam to be pumped out for power generation. This replenishes the steam enabling more power to be generated. There are however, some problems that are starting to surface. Geothermal fields are usually found in areas where there are fault systems. The same fault systems that cause earth tremors and earthquakes.

Nearby the Napa Geyser fields there is a young volcano being born known as the Clear Lake volcanic field and it supplies the magma and its heat to the Geyser fields creating the steam. It has also been discovered that extensions of two major Northern California fault lines border the steam fields. What's a nice quiet, well-intentioned, well-mannered power plant doing near volcanoes and earthquake faults? Scientists are beginning to find out.

Some of them believe that injecting water into the steam fields has caused an increase in earthquake tremors. Others believe that earthquake tremors happen just as frequently without water injection just because we pump the steam out changing the balance of the deep underground steam fields. It seems that each time we use some of our planets "free" bounty we eventually discover that there really is a price to pay. We frequently forget a basic law of physics . "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction".

Nothing is free. Nature is a balance of forces, and not one that ensures a continuing equilibrium, but rather one that ensures continual change with equilibrium being only an instantaneous condition. What we humans, as stewards of our planet, must do is to think about the inevitable chain of reactions that might occur as we consume natures resources and deplete the supply. More importantly we must be prepared to pay the price for replenishment of the resources and consequential costs associated with consuming the resources.

A simple example is starkly revealed in the Geyser steam fields. The price for pumping out the "free" steam is earthquakes. Most experts think these will be frequent and small, but people nearby will pay a price. The power generating companies can just keep producing and making profits while nearby citizens pay for the consequential damages incurred.

We need to "tax" companies that use the planets resources and create a public fund to be used to mitigate the unforeseen consequences. Someone has to care and be financially responsible. What better way is there than to set aside a portion of the revenue to pay for the sustainability of the resource or the damages incurred by consuming the resource.