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)
There are fantastic positives that could come from drilling in the Arctic Circle, specifically in Alaska. The United States currently spends over a trillion dollars on retrieving oil from countries such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela. The United States depend on other countries to provide fuel for it’s use. One barrel of oil costs $135 which adds up to about $1.3 trillion that is spent on fossil fuels for the country. The cost pays for labor, the actual fuel, and the delivery of the product. If the country decided to put that money into drilling in Alaska, all of the leftover money would be put to better use in the country. Assuming that all of the focus was put on recovering oil from Alaska, it would save the United States about $1.7 trillion dollars and would create an abundant number of jobs (Arctic Power, 2014). Another ...
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.... (2014, February). Melting Sea Ice and Arctic Drilling: A Risky Combination. The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 9, 2014 from, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/04/melting-sea-ice-arctic- drilling_n_4725363.html
Jacobson, R. (2013, September). Controversy Over Shell’s Exploration in Arctic Continues. PBS. Retrieved February 25, 2014, from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/ controversy-over-shells-oil-exploration-in-arctic-continues/
Klint, C. (2014, January). Shell Suspends 2014 Arctic Offshore Drilling in Alaska. KTUU.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014 from, www.ktuu.com/news/news/shell-suspends-2014-arctic-drilling-in-alaska/ 24197086
La Ganga, M. L. (2014, January). Arctic Ocean Oil Drilling Opponents Win Appeal. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 10, 2014 from,
http://articles.latimes.com/2014/jan/22/nation/la-na-arctic-drilling-20140123
On April 9, 1997, Rig 52 that belonged to Mallard Bay Drilling was towed to a location in the territorial waters of Louisiana, where it drilled a well over two miles deep. After the well was almost complete an explosion occurred killing four of the crew and injuring several others. Seeing that this was a marine casualty in navigable U.S. waters, under existing regulations the United States Coast Guard responded. When the investigation was over the Coast Guard did not find any violations of their regulations and noted it was an uninspected vessel and the operator held an Operator Uninspected Passenger Vessel (OUPV) license. Soon after the incident the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Mallard Bay Drilling for violations
My opponents 1st/2nd/3rd contention was the drilling in the ANWR will harm the environment. This is absolutely incorrect. Lets put this into perspective, the ANWR is 19.6 million acres out of Alaska, which is 240 million acres. The proposed drilling in the coastal plain will be 1.5 million acres. Now, with the new technology we have today, we can tap into the 1.5 million acre oil supply with an oil area that is 2000 acres. 2000 acres is 1/10000 or .0001% of the ANWR. 1.5 million acres of oil and a minuscule possibility of harming at max, 1/10000, I repeat 1/10000th if the ANWR. (Arctic Power)
“Pipeline debate heats up EthicalOil & Sierra Club CBC January 11, 2012.” Online video clip.
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
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 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. Projects like the Keystone Pipeline are important as they will allow us to transport more oil than we would be able to in train cars, and grant larger access to oil reserves in the United States and Canada. The Keystone Pipeline itself is an oil pipeline which runs from the western Canadian sedimentary basin in Alberta, Canada to refineries in the United States.
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.
..."Alaska Oil Spill Fuels Concerns Over Arctic Wildlife, Future Drilling." National Geographic News. 20 Mar. 2006. Web. 3 July 2010.
Pratt, Joseph A. “Exxon and the Control of Oil.” Journal of American History. 99.1 (2012): 145-154. Academic search elite. Web. 26. Jan. 2014.
The Debate Over the Idea of Drilling for Oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Offshore oil drilling has had so many issues recently. It is time to put a stop to it before we completely poison our oceans. So much environmental damage has occurred from this act. The actions being Many people do not support it and think that we need to protect our oceans.
The Arctic Tundra The Tundra is located in the northern regions of North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. as well as a few regions of Antarctica. The Tundra is the second largest vegetation. zone in Canada. It can be divided into three different sections: the High Arctic Tundra, the Low Arctic Tundra and the Alpine Tundra.
The United States relies on imports for about forty percent of its crude oil, which is the lowest rate of dependency since 1991 according to the U.S Energy Information Administration. Today our country is trying to keep on track in becoming less and less dependent. When it comes to the topic of the future ways the United States will get its fuel, most of us readily agree that the United States should become more independent by using natural gas that is already here on our land. Where this argument usually ends, however, is on the question of the consequences drilling for natural gas brings. Whereas some are convinced drilling is safe, others maintain that it is actually in fact dangerous. Hydraulic fracturing or "fracking", the terms for drilling for natural gas, is dangerous to our public health and to the environment because of the water contamination it causes. Therefore, it is not something that should become a project for alternative fuel used by the United States.
"Waorani Indians March against Oil Drilling." Survival International. N.p., 15 July 2005. Web. 16 Oct. 2013.
" Oil is the life blood of our modern industrial society. It fuels the machines and lubricates the wheels of the world’s production. But when that vital resource is out of control, it can destroy marine life and devastate the environment and economy of an entire region…. The plain facts are that the technology of oil-- its extraction, its transport, its refinery and use-- has outpaced laws to control that technology and prevent oil from polluting the environment…" (Max, 1969). Oil in its many forms has become one of the necessities of modern industrial life. Under control, and serving its intended purpose, oil is efficient, versatile, and productive. On the other hand, when oil becomes out of control, it can be one of the most devastating substances in the environment. When spilled in water, it spreads for miles around leaving a black memory behind (Stanley, 1969).
According to an online article from Thought Company, the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill polluted the waters of Prince William Sound, coated more than a thousand miles of pristine coastline and killed hundreds of thousands of birds, fish, and animals. This crisis has become a symbol of human-caused environmental disasters all over the world. Many years after the accident, and despite billions of dollars spent on cleanup efforts, crude oil can still be found under the rocks and sand on the beaches of southwest Alaska, and the effects of the spill are still apparent in the lasting damage done to many native species. (West, 2017) This specific incident was a major crisis that acted as a prodrome for the oil industry. For the purpose of this assignment it is important that we take a look at the details of this event. From there, we will look at how Exxon handled the