The Pros And Cons Of Oil Drilling

In 1973, it was thought that there were potentially one-hundred billion barrels of oil lying in the Atlantic Ocean off the U.S. Coast. That may seem like a lot of oil, but the U.S. was estimated to consume 17.3 million barrels of oil a day at the time (Smith 232). After knowing that, the one-hundred billion barrels doesn’t seem like so much. Offshore oil drilling not only created a business, but also tapped into crucial resources for a booming American way of life. However, with great benefits come certain consequences. There was and still is a controversy over oil drilling for this reason. Oil drilling started in the early 1800s. Offshore oil drilling started in 1896 off the coast of California. After that, the oil business discovered ways

Oil spills occur when oil leaks into the surrounding water, causing the entire area to become polluted, which is a threat to marine life. One historical oil spill occurred off the coast of Santa Barbara, California in 1969. One of the wells on the oil drilling site started spewing into the channel, and it couldn’t be stopped for about ten days. During that time, it was estimated that about 2.2 million gallons of oil spilled into the ocean (Estes and Golomb 676). All of that oil had a strong impact on the wildlife that lived there. This caused people to see oil drilling in a new light. It was no longer just a way to a resource. It was now a threat to the environment. This is the debate they faced. Is oil drilling good because of what it provides us with, or is it bad because it is a potential threat to an ecosystem? Most oil industries argued that the only place left to find oil was offshore. They also stated that oil drilling is a large part of our nation’s economy, and we can’t afford to always import oil. Finally, they said that spillage of oil rarely occurs, and when it does, it most often doesn’t come from the wells themselves. They claimed that most of the pollutants come from the transport of oil from one place to another (Smith 232). However, those against it still couldn’t see past the oil spills that already occurred and how they impacted the environment