Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge

766 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Against arguments for drilling in the anwr

Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge

Everyday we put tons of pollution into the air, water and ground. Our population is growing each day and in turn urbanization is expanding. Teddy Roosevelt, being an avid outdoorsmen, knew the importance of setting land aside for posterity sake and in doing do set a trend for later presidents. When Richard Nixon set land aside in Alaska, which became the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), he set it aside to be never tainted by industrialization. Today republicans and some democrats want to repeal the title of National Wildlife Refuge and drill there for oil. This could have adverse effects for wildlife and the Inuit natives that call the ANWR and surrounding area home. In this paper I will lay out my reasons for why we should not drill in the refuge.

First of all, there is a drilling site in Alaska about 60 miles west of the ANWR. The big oil site has turned 1,000 square miles of tundra into a network of roads and pipelines (Sierra Club 1). It has turned it into what looks like an industrial park of a city. There are mounds of sewage sludge, scrap metal, garbage and waste sites that contain acids, lead, pesticides and diesel fuel. According to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article there is an average of one, usually small, spill a day, but totally 1.5 million gallons since 1995 (1). The oil in the ANWR is not located in a concentrated spot but rather in 30 smaller deposits. This means there would have to be networks of roads and pipelines built, increasing the chance of a spill. If there is confusion of who spilled what, which happens 40% of the time, the clean up expense is put on the public (Sierra Club 1). The location of the ANWR would make clean up even harder because ...

... middle of paper ...

...nd how they will adversely affect our way of life even more in the future. We really have to consider that depleting our resources at such a rapid rate will only harm us. Drilling in a pristine protected area is not the answer to our problems only enforcing laws for better gas mileage and looking at different sources of energy is going to help us in the long run.

If you want to be a part of the decision whether to drill or not you can write a letter or email your senator detailing your concerns you may have over drilling.

Works Cited

“Arctic Facts.” 5 March 2002.” *www.sierraclub.org*.

“Gwich’in Natives and ANWR.” 5 March 2002.” * www.sacbee.com*.

“Oil Industry is Misleading Americans.” 6 March 2002.” *www.protectthearctic.com*.

“Arctic Wildlife Refuge a Canvas for Ideological Debates.” JS Online 10 March 2002.

10 March 2002 *www.jsonline.com*.

Show More
Related

  • Should America Drill In Alaska Dbq Analysis

    542 Words  | 2 Pages

    The environment needs protecting because even before the drilling started hunting was rapidly decreasing the amount of animals in the area. So if drilling occured in Alaska the animal count would go down even more. Drilling is gonna need space, and because Alaska is a mountained and woodland area they will have to make space by destroying trees etc. Destroying trees means destroying animals’ homes. According to document E ‘just look 60 miles west to Prudhoe bay- an oil complex that has turned 1,000 square miles of fragile tundra into a sprawling industrial zone containing, 1,500 miles of roads and pipes’. Also the document states that the would be

    Read More

  • Deforestation in Illinois: Problems and Description

    1603 Words  | 4 Pages

    The effects of deforestation around my home and throughout my state are becoming more evident every day. When a deer or other wild game loses its home, they move into cities, urban areas, and parks; thus causing issues with the human population. Most people living in Illinois have hit or nearly killed a deer driving on Southern Illinois roadways. This common occurrence could be kept at bay or maybe even avoided if the deer and wild game had more space to reside. There are many points that coincide with this reality but the main issues are the small subtle ones that affect everyday life and are often overlooked. Picture the Illinois we will leave for our children. Do you see a lush green forest or miles and miles of concrete and steel?

    Read More

  • The Debate Over the Glen Canyon Dam

    1590 Words  | 4 Pages

    This Paper will describe and analyze three articles pertaining to the ongoing debate for and against Glen Canyon Dam. Two of these articles were found in the 1999 edition of A Sense of Place, and the third was downloaded off a site on the Internet (http://www.glencanyon.net/club.htm). These articles wi...

    Read More

  • The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: News Media Fantasy versus Reality

    3471 Words  | 7 Pages

    On March 27, 1989 the supertanker Exxon Valdez ran ashore in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling approximately 11 million gallons of crude oil. The oil soon spread into the waters of south-central Alaska from the sound of Kodiak Island to the Kenai Peninsula (refer to Figure 1 for a map of the area). Almost immediately, news media arrived at the site reporting images of oil-stained beaches and wildlife to the masses. News coverage centered around the environmental devastation which would result from the spill. The coverage, for the most part, reinforced stereotypes of Alaska, as a pristine wilderness and Exxon as a greedy, irresponsible oil company. These images stressed the negative consequences of the spills and ignored ...

    Read More

  • ANWR Drilling: Allowed or Not?

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    The debate on drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge is an intensely debated topic in America today. Proponents of the oil drilling believe that the oil in the refuge will solve the high prices of gasoline, but they don’t even know what amount of oil the refuge holds and the amount of oil that we use every year in the United States. The drilling in ANWR will severely damage the wildlife refuge and its environment. The oil would take years to access with drilling and so far there has been no proof that the drilling would actually produce enough oil to sustain our needs as a country. Also, a reason to not drill in the refuge is because the reserve is being saved for when our country is in a national emergency, or until when there is no oil left because of its rapid decline in availability.

    Read More

  • Overview of Green Washing Perpetrated by BP

    2378 Words  | 5 Pages

    ..."Alaska Oil Spill Fuels Concerns Over Arctic Wildlife, Future Drilling." National Geographic News. 20 Mar. 2006. Web. 3 July 2010.

    Read More

  • The Benefits Of The Marcellus Shale

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is a known fact Pennsylvania is greatly impacted by the Marcellus Shale. The Marcellus Shale is a layer of black shale located under the Appalachian basin from Prehistoric times. Natural gas and oil are being extracted from this layer for their increasing economic value, with natural gas having a worth of $10 for every thousand cubic feet of it. Furthermore, improved technology such as “hydraulic fracturing” and “horizontal wells” has made Marcellus drilling more efficient and has increased the implementation of the drilling as a source of economic opportunity for not only drilling companies but for the whole state of Pennsylvania (“Marcellus Shale”). An important part of this Marcellus activity is that “most drilling is occurring in rural areas” according to Joseph Morris, a poll analyzer from Mercyhurst College (Begos, Kevin. “Gas”). Amid the economic opportunity, farmers in these areas are resistant to signing over their farmland to drilling companies. Bradford County farmer Carol French, who wrote an editorial in The Patriot News, stated, “Has anyone considered how these gas developments and industrial uses on farmland will impact agriculture production for years to come if a farmer does not have the necessary means or information to negotiate protection measures?” She fears that drilling will ruin rural property and thus unnecessarily change or hurt farmers’ economic way of life (French). However, because of the vital economic benefits that Marcellus Shale drilling has for Pennsylvania, farmers in rural areas of the state should choose to allow drilling on their property.

    Read More

  • Great Lakes Directional Drilling

    998 Words  | 2 Pages

    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?

    Read More

  • Offshore Drilling Persuasive Essay

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    The environmental danger taken by offshore drilling is very straight forward, made clear by oil spills such as the recent BP oil spill and the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 off the shore of Alaska. In the circumstances of the Exxon Valdez spill up to 250,000 sea birds died, over 2,800 sea otters and thousands of other animals], (figures from the BP oil spill are not yet concluded), having had a heavy strike on the regional wildlife and directing to a ban on all offshore drilling in America, until George Bush overturned it in 2008 to this repeal was a misjudgment because two years later there was the Deepwater Horizon spill. In this way, offshore drilling ruins ecosystems and fish supplies which creates a wasteland of a shoreline among southern USA.

    Read More

  • The Clean Water Act Of 1977

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    Clean water involves seclusion of lakes and hoping the acid rain does not reach these pure water supplies. Another major source of contaminating clean water are oil spills and how destructively they blanket the shoreline they come in contact with. Although offshore drilling expeditions contribute some to the devastating outcome, oil tankers are the superior enemies toward the water. One estimate is that for every one million tons of petroleum shipped one ton is spilled. The largest super tanker spill was in 1979 when 3.3 million barrels was spilled off the coast of France. The largest in the United States was the Exxon Valdez in the gulf of Alaska. On the night of March 24, 1989 the 987 foot Exxon Valdez ran aground in the gulf of Alaska spilling 260,000 barrels of oil. With the help of the forceful winds, the slick soon covered about 1,100 miles of shoreline, including many islands in the sound.

    Read More

  • The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Tennessee Valley Authority

    1383 Words  | 3 Pages

    Magoc, Chris J. Environmental Issues in American History: A Reference Guide with Primary Documents. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2006. Print.

    Read More

  • The Consequences of Drilling for Natural Gas

    1644 Words  | 4 Pages

    The people who are being asked permission to transform their land into drilling sites for natural gas have more reason to be concerned than most because it will affect them more directly than people who do not live in that specific area (although it does affect people who do not live in the vicinity as well). Although fracking may seem to concern to only a small group of people, it should also concern anyone who cares about doing what is safe for our country's citizens. The truth is, fracking is extremely dangerous, not only because of the negative effects on the environment, but also because it could make people ill.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Fracking

    1556 Words  | 4 Pages

    When does protecting one’s well-being and those of others for the sake of using natural gas become a priority? This is just one of the questions asked when hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, grew in notoriety here in the United States. The United States should stop using this form of drilling if it truly wants to protect its citizens. It must be stopped because it is putting our health at risk by poisoning the water that we drink, wasting billions of gallons of fresh water, and polluting the air that we breathe.

    Read More

  • Oil Spill Response

    5767 Words  | 12 Pages

    Swift, W.H, . C.J. Touhill, W.L. Templeton, and D.P. Roseman. 1969. Oil spillage prevention, control, and restoration—state of the art and research needs. Washington, D.C.: The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.

    Read More

  • The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, located in the Gulf of Mexico exploded killing 11 workers and injuring 17. The oil rig sank a day-and-a-half later. The spill was referred to as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP oil spill, Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and BP oil disaster. It was first said that little oil had actually leaked into the ocean but a little over a month later the estimate was 12,000-19,000 barrels of crude oil being leaked per day. Many attempts were made to stop the leak but all failed until they capped the leak on July 15, 2010, and on September 19 the federal government declared the well “effectively dead.” In the three months that it took to finally put a stop the leak, 4.9 million barrels of oil were released into the ocean. The spill caused considerable damage to marine and wildlife habitats and the Gulf’s fishing and tourism industries. The White House energy advisor, Carol Browner, goes as far to say that the Deepwater oil spill is the “worst environmental disaster the US has faced.”

    Read More

More about Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge

Open Document