The development of oil in North Dakota is a double edged blade that we the people need to learn how to understand and use, so that the negatives of the oil boom are not overlooked. In this report we will bring multiple dark areas of the increasing oil development in North Dakota, especially western North Dakota. Areas that we be covered vary across the spectrum of everyday society and environmental aspects. These aspects include water and soil quality, wildlife habitat, land use and value, affects to community development, and the reduction to finding alternatives to oil, every aspect being important to maintaining a stable environment and sociological mindset. Contamination, mainly focusing on the effects that oil development has been having on water quality. So to start with many complaint and arguments have been made that are stating that the water that nearby cities and towns are using are being polluted. One of the top complaints found was methane leaking into underground water ways. This presents quite the problem as methane is highly flammable. You can find many videos of people light water from facets on fire with the high amounts of methane being present. Methane being highly flammable can also be very deadly in high amounts since it can cause an explosion if accumulated in large quantities. Other drilling chemical and materials are also ever present. The biggest concerns of the chemicals that are used are carcinogens. As many know this are known to cause cancer. Other drilling chemicals are present and there are a large variety of them that are used. Many have been disclosed by oil companies but few still remain to be determined. However it’s not even the chemicals that are the most of the worries. The staggering amou... ... middle of paper ... ...eports/Clean-Energy-Trends-2013). It’s indicative that these trends continue after this time period so that we do not leave our future generations to the mercy of the heavily subsidized oil industry. Oil is what we inherited and it’s what is going to be used until it runs out, but we should begin to look towards sustainability with much greater enthusiasm to escape the coming negative effects of oil depletion. In conclusion, we hope that the darker side of the oil development double edge sword has been brought to the light. From the contamination of both soil and water to the use of the land, the affects to natural wildlife and the areas communities, and the reduction to alternative energies the negatives are spread throughout everyday life. Hopefully we can look at both sides and be able to make educated decisions that are good for issues today and in the future.
The Alberta Oil Sands are large deposits of bitumen in north-eastern Alberta. Discovered in 1848, the first commercial operation was in 1967 with the Great Canadian Oil Sands plant opening, and today many companies have developments there. The Alberta Oil Sand development is very controversial, as there are severe environmental impacts and effects on the local Aboriginal peoples. This essay will discuss the need for changes that can be made for the maximum economic benefit for Canada, while reducing the impact on the environment and limiting expansion, as well as securing Alberta’s future. Changes need to be made to retain the maximum economic benefits of the Alberta Oil Sands while mitigating the environmental and geopolitical impact. This will be achieved by building pipelines that will increase the economic benefits, having stricter environmental regulation and expansion limitations, and improving the Alberta Heritage Fund or starting a new fund throu...
...Alberta tar sands oil extraction project should be ended immediately. It should be stopped until the government has a better understanding of the effects that it has on the surrounding areas, including the wildlife and humans. The extraction of oil is being pushed because of the large possibility of capital being gained from the project by the government, which has lead to negligence by the government of the impacts. When people, animals, and plants are dying at such a high rate, the Canadian government shouldn’t be watching, they should be acting before the tar sands oil extraction project become too big to stop. This project has allowed me to answer the questions I had when I started the paper and allowed me to formulate my own opinions about the topic. Hopefully, it interested the audience enough that they will research the topic more and make up their own mind.
In conclusion, Oil impacted social change over time, which helped us grow as a society. If you took my proposal into consideration I would really appreciate it. My proposal is going to have all of the factors of Oil and how oil has change our state. After reading the documents that you have given me I was able to answer question “What story should be told”. As H.L hunt always said “money is just as way of keeping score”. - H.L
On January 10th 1901 the discovery of oil at Spindletop would lead to the greatest economy boom the world has ever encountered. The amount of oil that would be discovered across Texas would be more than enough to power America through the next several decades. The effects of having oil would completely change Texas culture, lifestyle, and business tremendously. In the book of Oil In Texas, will prove that America would change completely from agriculture nation to an industrial nation after the discovery of oil in Texas.
Ever since the process of hydraulic fracturing—or fracking—made its entrance to the oil industry, issues and problems surrounding the process have become a common occurrence. Fracking is the controversial process of horizontal drilling (see fig. 1), where millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals are pumped deep into an oil well to extract natural gas from the earth’s crust (Ehrenberg 20). This practice has even been banned in some places (see fig. 1). The methane that comes out of the earth and the water used—called fracking fluid—has the potential to cause problems with local ground water supplies. Whether or not fracking is the cause of these problems, concern should be observed during the fracking process to reduce the chances of water contamination among residential areas.
Fracking can cause harm to people, animals, and nature. When they drill into the ground they are pumping chemicals to extract the gas and oil, and this contaminates the water sources around it. “An editorial on gas extraction from the Marcellus Shale in the Post-Star, a newspaper in Glens Falls, New York, contends, “New York state simply can’t take the risk. There are plenty of places to find fuel. It’s not so easy to find a new water supply for 17 million people.”” (Hydrofracking
In ancient times Babylonians used oil as mortar, Native Americans used oil as a topical medicine, and, before electricity, oil was used to create light. Mankind has been dependant on oil as a resource for generations. It has influenced growth, warfare, and technological advancement, but what if mankind were to run out (Alois)? The possibility of this eventuality was first vocalized by M. King Hubbert who introduced the notion of “peak oil.” When global oil production “peaks” it reaches its greatest output level and then permanently declines (Hubbert). There is much debate as to whether this “peak” exists, has already been passed, or will be passed in the near future. Despite the debate there is one undeniable fact; there is a finite amount of oil since it is a non renewable resource. Considering a sudden systemic collapse of all oil production seems unlikely, oil will probably be replaced gradually. This loss of oil could be positive; possibly less CO2 would enter the atmosphere and global warming may be stalled. However, the success of this transition away from fossil fuels will be largely dependant on the ability of developed nations to manage their time. If the US, or any other nation, is going to be successful, they need to start now.
On January 10th 110 years ago, oil shot 150 feet into the sky at Spindletop Hill in Southeast Texas and the state was flung into the petroleum and industrial age. Before that, Texas was mostly an agrarian state that produced a small amount of oil but not en...
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.
Natural Gas - The process of getting natural gas through drilling might cause the groundwater to be contaminated. The way that transport natural gas might disturb the environment
“The conversation of our natural resources and their proper use underlines almost every other problem in our national life,” Theodore Roosevelt. Americans’ dependence upon petroleum-based energy sources has required the United States to consider a variety of options to fulfill [the] ever-increasing energy needs, even drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [ANWR] (Smith). The controversial question on whether or not to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge reserve has been in battle since its establishment. Drilling in ANWR would cause severe damage as it is a danger to its native plants and animals as the land is their home and birthing ground, the land discussed to be open to drilling will not be the only land set to a path of destruction, and along with the use and distribution of the oil found, as of how much could be discovered and if it is worth losing precious land all to a nations greed of oil.
In 1995, an important event marked a victory for the national GreenPeace organization, and for humans alike. The Brent Spar oil installation was not allowed to be dumped into the ocean. The importance of this decision lied in the fact that there were over 600 oil installations that would someday expire just as the Brent Spar had. When the decision was made to not allow the dumping, it set a precident that the other installations would not be allowed to be dumped, either.
" 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).
Numerous reports have been given on the dangerous affects of hydraulic fracturing. One such affect that has been noticed is that drinking water wells near the fracturing sites have been contaminated. During the hydro-fracking process, injected fluids that help to break and keep open the rock bed where the natural gas is kept, have “been known to travel three thousand feet from the well (Goldman).” This fluid could have the potential to enter and contaminate any water well for homes around hydraulic fracturing sites. This incident is one of the major problems that people want to figure out and know about before they allow a fracturing site by them. It has been the most feared outcome of having a fracking site nearby, and it is highly appropriate. One site in Wyoming had this happen, “…in August, EPA reported that eleven of thirty-nine drinking-water wells near a Wyoming hydraulic fracturing operation were contaminated with chemicals used in the fracturing process (Hobson EPA).” In Pennsylvania, another such case occurred, “There have already been severe pollution cases in Pennsylvania, mo...
finding new ways to drill for oil and also refine it more efficiently to ensure that