The United States imported 9,163,000 barrels of oil per day in 2010. Of that amount 4,885,000 barrels are imported from countries that belong to the OPEC oil cartel. (Petroleum Statistics) The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an organization consisting of twelve countries that have formally agreed to fix prices and dictates sales rules involving the export of oil to non-member countries. In order to lessen our dependence on OPEC oil, the United States should begin drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. The oil reserves in ANWR are estimated to contain more than twice as much oil as the state of Texas. (Energy) Drilling for these resources will help the United States by decreasing our dependence on OPEC oil, creating jobs, and increasing tax revenue. All of these goals can be accomplished in an environmentally friendly way, on two thousand acres of land that have already been held aside for energy exploration.
The Arctic National Wildlife refuge was created in 1980 as part of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. ANWR consists of 19 million acres with 17.5 million acres declared wilderness area and 1.5 million acres that have been set aside for energy exploration in the future, but may only be opened to exploration with the approval of Congress. The area of ANWR that would be available for exploration would be less than ten percent of the entire area of ANWR. Of those 1.5 million acres, only 2000 acres will be available for above ground structures and roads. (Clark) There are estimated to be more than 10.2 billion barrels of recoverable oil in ANWR. (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1002 Area, Petroleum Assessment, 1998, Including Economic Analysi...
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Significance: Right now, The United States of America languishes in an economic decline. Jobs are being lost. Drilling in the ANWR will create hundreds of thousands of jobs. Also, 80% of Alaska’s state revenues are oil. With the North Slope oil fields in decline, Alaskans could lose jobs. Drilling in the ANWR will create jobs for Alaskans. As Jennie Wodkowski, who has lived in Alaska for 34 years said, “Oil’s important. We don’t have anything else going on here.”
Drilling for oil in Alaska will cause the environment and animals to suffer. Oil drilling in Alaska started in 1980 when America found itself in an oil crisis. So a solution for this crisis was to start drilling for oil in other locations. The largest oil field in North America was in Prudhoe Bay on the north coast of Alaska. Prudhoe Bay would soon account for 20% of all domestic U.S. oil production. Despite the oil crisis in 1980, Congress formed a wildlife reserve just east of Prudhoe Bay. it was called The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge(ANWR). Document A.
Almost every single nation in our world today, the United States included, is extremely reliant on oil and how much of it we can obtain. Wars have been started between countries vying for control of this valuable natural resource. The United States as a whole has been trying to reduce its reliance on foreign oil and has had some success, especially with the discovery of the Bakken formation and projects like the Keystone Pipeline.
"The Debate Over ANWR Drilling Begins Anew." ENewsUSA. ENewsUSA, 2 Mar. 2009. Web. 09 May 2011.
There is an abundance of oil underneath earth’s crust on land and in the water but getting to that oil can be proven as a challenge and a negative impact on the earth. Many of these oil reservoirs lie in federally protected land or water to minimize the negative impact on the earth. But should those restrictions be removed? Removing the restrictions can allow the US to tap into domestic reserves rather than rely on imported oil from the Middle East and Asia but tapping these reservoirs can also leave behind an impact that is harmful to this planet. “Critics oppose this move for fear that it will cause irreparable harm environmental harm. They point to the April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as evidence of the risks associated with offshore drilling” (SIRS).
... we may see a serious act in the near future to start the process of drilling. With a solid combination and profitability factor the U.S. could prevent the rising gasoline prices. We need to however, continue our search for other alternatives do to our limited resource of oil. For this reason, I am in favor of opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling and also the exploration of alternative fuel sources, as well as ways to conserve fuel. This combination should provide the United States with an energy policy that is both financially stable and environmentally sound.
..."Alaska Oil Spill Fuels Concerns Over Arctic Wildlife, Future Drilling." National Geographic News. 20 Mar. 2006. Web. 3 July 2010.
Around the mitten shaped state of Michigan, five gigantic lakes encompass the coast. Providing a spot for vacationers, fisherman, and much wildlife, the Great Lakes are the pride and joy of Michigan. The history of the lakes stretches back thousands of years, where glaciers carved the lakes out of bedrock. These lakes provided a surplus of food and access to easy travel for settlers hundreds of years ago. People around the Great Lakes area appreciate the diversity of wildlife, scenery, and rarity of such landmarks. When the question of whether to drill in these lakes for oil and natural gas came up, it ignited many debates. Is our wildlife more important than oil to us? Or does the presence of oil and natural gas mean we can corrupt our environment and endanger many different types of species, along with ourselves?
Drilling for oil in Alaska may affect the wildlife, but it is a good thing to do because our government well make money and get out of depth. Are you tired of paying high gas prices every time you got to fill the tank? Do you know if the U.S would let shell oil company drill for oil in Alaska you could kiss those high gas prices good byes? The resin they say we cannot drill there is because it would affect the wild life. But in my view the wild life that lives there has plenty of land to move to once they started to drill.
Bloodshed has erupted in countries such as Yemen and Iraq over the distribution and domination of petroleum. Yemen recently acquired airstrikes from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is currently vexing Yemen into imparting complete authority to their country. Similarly, Iraq is receiving national strife due to the petroleum market. Inhabitants are arduously rejecting ISIS’ appeal to regulating the petroleum circulation in the state. Due to this appeal citizens and ISIS are heavily disputing over this instrumental control of the substance. The United States recently bickered about the Keystone Pipeline; this pipeline bridges Western Canada gravitating down to Southern Texas. This pipeline would grant the United States to become self-sufficient in petroleum manufacturing. Yet, environmentalists’ jilted the bill do to the numerous environmental and social dilemmas would persist from the eradication of the southern section of the United States. Basically, as petroleum dwindles, hostility and warfare will ultimately ensue across the
The United States as well as the rest of the world are dealing with the issue that the world supply of oil is dwindling. Ever since our peak consumption year in 2005 the United States has been a major consumer of crude oil and petroleum products. As of 2012 according to the U.S Energy Information Administration “The United States consumed 18.6 million barrels per day of petroleum products, making us the world’s largest petroleum consumer.” The U.S. has long been dependent on foreign petroleum products to meet our ever growing energy demands and consumption. With the revolutionary and controversial rise of fracking it is now possible for the United States to become a self energy sufficient country. With fracking, the proper technology and economic
America is dependent on other nations for their ability to create energy. The United States is the world’s largest consumer of oil at 18.49 million barrels of oil per day. And it will continue to be that way for the foreseeable future considering the next largest customer of oil only consumes about 60% of what the U.S. does. This makes the U.S. vulnerable to any instability that may arise in the energy industry. In 2011, the world’s top three oil companies were Saudi Aramco (12%), National Iranian Oil Company (5%), and China National Petroleum Corp (4%). The risk associated with these countries being the top oil producers is twofold. One, they are located half way around the world making it an expensive to transport the product logistically to a desired destination. And two, the U.S. has weak, if not contentious,...
For more than a decade, debate over drilling for oil on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [ANWR] has continued unabated. The proposal to drill for oil in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is heavily urged by the oil companies and supported by most Alaskan government officials, has drawn full scale opposition from powerful private environmental organizations representing millions of members throughout the United States.
The state of Alaska is home to some incredibly beautiful examples of nature, and also happens to be home to a large wealth of oil. Since the discovery of the amount of oil off the coast of Alaska, there has been debate of whether to take advantage of this resource and drill the Alaskan oil reserves, or to leave it alone and preserve the nature and wildlife surrounding the state. In the article, “Offshore Drilling in Alaska Should Be Expanded” by author Marvin E. Odum, and the article, “Offshore Drilling in Alaska Should Be Limited” by author Margaret Williams, the two authors convey opposing viewpoints on the same topic. Similar argumentative tactics are utilized in each piece of writing, however Odum’s article ends up being more effective than Williams’s due to a better use of those tactics. The main tactics that the authors used were their facts and evidence, their presentation of their opinion, and their ability to keep the reader interested in their article.
The Arctic Circle is a snowy paradise that harbors diverse species and beautiful landscapes. It also happens to be home to an estimated thirteen to twenty-five percent of the world’s undiscovered crude oil, averaging out to about 90 billion barrels of oil (Gerkens, 2014). Alaska in particular is home to one of the largest sources of oil in the United States. Underneath the barren land and icy waters is thought to be over 412 billion barrels of oil and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. A majority of these fossil fuels are located in North Slope, Alaska and in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off the coast of Alaska. However, reaching this fuel can be quite difficult and perilous. Drilling on land is strongly protested and drilling in the ocean can be treacherous. There are pros and cons to drilling for oil in the Arctic and the effects of drilling could be positive or negative. (Dlouhy, 2014)