North Shore Oil Exploration and Drilling

1099 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Drilling For Oil Began In Alaska Wilderness

North Shore Oil Exploration and Drilling

There is some evidence that oil exists under the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This has led to a huge debate as to whether or not companies should be allowed to drill for this oil. A law was passed by congress in 1980 that states “production of oil and gas from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is prohibited and no leasing or other development leading to production of oil and gas from the [Refuge] shall be undertaken until authorized by an act of Congress.” If these oil companies do succeed in abolishing this law, then a land that has stood virtually untouched would be destroyed for what the United States Geological Survey has estimated is only 6 months worth of oil.

Much of Alaska’s North Slope has been open for oil exploration and drilling. Since the late 80’s however, oil companies have been lobbying congress to open the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge. This is the remaining 5 percent of the refuge that has been untouched. Because of all the problems in the Middle East and here with Hurricane Katrina, opening ANWR to oil exploration and drilling has never looked so tempting. Only one thing is keeping congress and oil companies out of the refuge, wildlife. There are many rare animals that depend on this area for survival. By infiltrating this area with human activity, we would be sending these animals possibly to their death. We must ask ourselves is it worth threatening herds of caribou, polar bears, and many other animals for just 6 months of oil?

Congress has said that any tangible benefits to consumers from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will take at least a decade to come into full effect. Because of the fluctuating price of oil, congress wants to ...

... middle of paper ...

...arch Sources

Internet

www.alaskawild.org

www.issues2000.org

washingtontimes.com

fte.org/hottopics

www.anwr.org

Journals

1. Leopold, Jason. “Alaska’s Crude Threat.” Earth Island Journal, autumn 2005, Vol. 20 Issue 3, pg. 39-41. Nov. 5th, 2005.

2. Hickel, Walter J. “President Carter is Dead Wrong about ANWR.” Human Events, 9/26/2005, Vol. 61 Issue 32, pg. 7-7. Nov. 5th, 2005.

Books

1. US Fish and Wildlife, US Geological Survey, US Bureau of Land Management. Proposed oil and gas exploration within the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska / prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Land Management. Washington, DC: The Service, 1983.

2. Lentfer, Hank and Servid, Carolyn. Arctic refuge: a circle of testimony. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions, 2001.

Show More
Related

  • Maya Lin Vietnam War Memorial

    1505 Words  | 4 Pages

    Committee on Senate Energy and National Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. 3 June 2003: ESBCO. Mission Viejo Library., Mission Viejo, CA. 31 July 2005. http://web31.epnet.com/citation.

    Read More

  • Has the Creation of Nunavut Come too Quickly?

    1232 Words  | 3 Pages

    Matthiasson, John S. Living on the Land: Change Among the Inuit of Baffin Island. Ontario, Broadview Press, 1992, pages 35-37.

    Read More

  • Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Rhetorical Analysis

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    He tries to convince the audience that there are other ways to find and conserve oil. Carter explains, “At best, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge might provide 1 to 2 percent of the oil our country consumes each day. We can easily conserve more than that amount by driving more fuel-efficient vehicles. Instead of tearing open the heart of our greatest refuge, we should use our resources more wisely”. He strongly believes that we can find other solutions to oil problems and the Arctic Refuge wouldn’t even supply us with enough oil; therefore, it is not worth the exploration and damage. In short, Jimmy Carter explains to the audience that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is not the only solution to our problems, it’s also not the most logical fix, as it would not suffice for our tall oil

    Read More

  • The Debate Over the Idea of Drilling for Oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

    1471 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Debate Over the Idea of Drilling for Oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

    Read More

  • Undocumented Workers

    1243 Words  | 3 Pages

    Speeches Of The Day 43.18 (1977): 551. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 5 Feb.

    Read More

  • Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Article Analysis

    525 Words  | 2 Pages

    This article offers insight to the controversial topic of whether or not to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. It’s main solution is to converse with environmentalists on the issue to determine if it is worth the risks and suitable for the environment.

    Read More

  • Good Grief

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    Strayed, Cheryl. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. Print.

    Read More

  • Th Oil and Natural Gas Industry's Effect on Oklahoma

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oklahoma's oil and natural gas industry is giving us unstoppable progress for energy solutions, but the other parts of the nation are still searching for theirs. While providing jobs for the thousands of people who live in Oklahoma, the oil and natural gas industry not only donates to America's petroleum production, but it also produces millions of dollars for our state’s economy, schools, and roads. Making new headways in our industry every day, artificial technology, scientific breakthroughs, adequate new exploration, and drilling methods took place. Without these upgrades, we would not be able to extract oil and natural gas from challenging fields more efficiently than we can now. As capability rises, environmental impact will continue to go down. In 1897, a tower of surging oil divided the Bartlesville sky. Oklahoma's preliminary drilling swaged badly, brought forth by the federal controls on wellhead prices of natural gas applied to interstate commerce in the 1950s. By 1982, oil prices hit an all time high of $37.60 per barrel. Furthermore, the number of progressive drilling rigs in Oklahoma also hit a record of 882. The total quantity produced from the soul and natural gas industry in Oklahoma reached about 40 billion dollars in 2007. Also, through the gross production tax, oil and natural gas producers and royalty owners gave more than 2 billion dollars to Oklahoma used for teacher retirement, public schools, wildlife management, bridges, roads, and state colleges. Petroleum remains an indispensable Sooner State industry. Natural gas continued to grow in the early 1990s despite of the entire staggering bust that was caused by the plummeting world crude oil p...

    Read More

  • Exxon Valdez

    429 Words  | 1 Pages

    The oil covered roughly 10,000 sq. miles of water. This is the area of Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, and 25 Washington D.C.’s combined! In only a week’s time the wind and current moved the oil 90 miles into the Gulf of Alaska. It contaminated 1,500 miles of coast. This is like the shoreline of California.

    Read More

  • Drilling for Oil in Alaska

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Climate Induced Community Relocation Summary

    458 Words  | 1 Pages

    Climate Induced Community Relocation Robin Bronen brings about the question of what part government should take in the relocation of coastal communities facilitated by climate change and the adverse effects that it has on the environment. Including the loss of costal retreats due to the rising levels of the ocean as polar ice caps continue to melt. Mr. Bronen came to his hypothesis by researching four Alaskan Native communities that were being threatened by climate induced costal loss (Climate-induced). Currently there are no government framework in place to deal with the relocation of entire communities. This lack of a frame work hinders local, State and federal government from responding to these changing needs.

    Read More

  • I Am Inuit: A Social Media Project Analysis

    612 Words  | 2 Pages

    Inuit are the Indigenous Peoples, with the same language and culture, inhabiting the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and far-east Chukotka. In Alaska, Inuit include the Inupiat, Yup'ik, Cup'ik and St. Lawrence Island Yupik. The Inuit Circumpolar Council Alaska began I AM INUIT to raise public awareness of the Arctic. The project highlights the human dimension

    Read More

  • Climate Change In Canada

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    Because spring is starting earlier and winter is being cut short, polar bears are not able to hunt enough, rendering them unable to gain the amount of weight needed to last them though the warmer seasons. As a result, polar bears are spending more time on land where there is little food, causing malnutrition, poor body condition (Fig. 2), and lower rates of reproduction and survival (p. 5-6). This has resulted in a 22% reduction in population size between 1987 and 2004 (p. 6). In Conservation and management of Canada’s polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in a changing Arctic, Peacock, Derocher, Thiemann, and Stirling (2011) state that Canada has a responsibility for the conservation of polar bears – the decline in their population is not acceptable, and Canadians must be active in protecting the species from extinction because “majority of the polar bears in the world occur within the nation’s borders” (p. 371). They are one of the most sensitive Arctic marine mammals to climate change because their main prey are either located in the ocean (such as beluga whales), or on sea ice (such as seals)

    Read More

  • Why We Should Conserve Wilderness Areas

    1763 Words  | 4 Pages

    This comes directly back to our main argument is it better to preserve the wilderness or extract the natural resources that are abundant there. Conservationists argue that burning fossil fuel while drilling poses a great threat to the ecosystems and that this is one of the last places a visitor can still witness a great migration of Caribou. 260 Eskimos native to area argue differently they say “We don’t have any other economy up here”.

    Read More

  • We Can Stop Global Warming

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    The warming of the Earth is destroying our ecosystem. Our ecosystem is being affected. The changes in the climate are and will continue to affect all species, humans and animals. Many animals will become extinct because of this. In an article written about the ecosystem by Peter Fashing, said “Several species, including the arctic fox and Thayer’s gull, rely on scavenging the remains of seals killed by polar bears as an important component of their diet. If polar bears become extinct, these species also may follow them into extinction. In fact, the loss of polar bears and the climate change that is behind this loss are, unfortunately, likely to ultimately result in the collapse of the entire arctic ecosystem as we know it today.” (Fashing, 2009)

    Read More

More about North Shore Oil Exploration and Drilling

Open Document