& 
could be seen as partner elements. Whatever the effect is it most likely should affect both elements.
Like Eclipse causing Death and Darkness to be partners? Good idea, but that is still an unbalanced comparison. Earth is not a mono-element for anything but rush. And rush is what must be done, since you need a ton of
quanta to get out your Shriekers (assuming you're not using a Mark of
or some-such). The point is, while the Earth card should indeed benefit more than one elemental type, it should still bolster the idea of Earth to be monotonal. A defense boost for Earth is like giving Dive to an Egg. Good if you've got a way to use Dive, but bad if it's monotonal, since the element cannot directly utilize the bonus. No matter how you look at this, aside from CC-prevention, a defense boost for
only says, "Hey, I gotta get me some more Gravy cards!"
