Oil and natural gas pads fragment the Permian Basin in West Texas. Energy use in the USA is expected to increase annually with fossil fuels currently meeting 70% of USA demand, with domestic energy sources driven in part by the desire to maintain energy security. Our flights demonstrate the significant loss in biodiversity and ecosystem fracturing as a result of these developments, and serve to highlight the resultant increase in global temperatures, evident from the air in the aridification of landscapes, larger hotter fires and compromised water sources.