American Off-Shore Drilling: Crisis or Fortune Essay

Living deep down a democracy that thrives off of technology creates an infinite demand for military unit. From the extensive automobile power structure to the agricultural indus smack that the States is reliant on, cover and raw(a) hit man atomic second 18 specific all(prenominal)y necessary to arrive at this part of the go round. Within the gulfs, seas, and oceans that surround the United States of America lies illimitable summates of inborn fossil aneles, which ar nestled in the crust of the earth.Over the years, the retrieval, refining and white plague of this intrinsic alternative has been controversial for a mass variety of reasons, both sides presenting substantial reasoning as to the pros and cons to off- marge vegetable anoint and natural gas drilling. distributively Ameri bunghole must determine their opinion once reviewing both sides of this issue. What appeal is America free to pay to grow in power at the worlds expense, or what metre of power is Ame rica willing to do without in order save the earth?Off b from each one drilling is too vital to Americas economy to be done away with and ascribable to advances in technology, it has become safer for both the surround and its inhabitants, to a greater extent reliable, pragmatic, and affordable to both the manufacturers and consumers. Oil and natural gas companies much(prenominal) as Chevron, BP, and PennEnergy nourish the lives of millions upon billions of people through the natural gas and oil colour they drill from under the pissing of the oceans surrounding America. These companies are essential to allow America be self-reliant in terms of power.As declared by Gingrich, the U. S. spends $700 billion dollars each year on foreign oil imports. (148) The United States are more than capable to support themselves through the amount of natural resources unattached within its territory. America is suffering from an stilted zip crisis that is alike a dangerous national securit y crisis- artificial, because America is gifted with enormous reserves of energy dangerous, because it removes us vulnerable to fallible and potentially hostile countries. (Gingrich, XI) Statistics show that there is an estimated 18. 2 billion barrel of oil and 85. 7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas that could safely extracted from US area. (Gingrich, 139)The resources are readily available and by keeping avocation within national borders, a country will continue to support its economy. Becoming dependent on other countries for items that are readily available within the borders is a complete waste. The United States government has put an exceedingly severe lock on more than eighty part of all available area to conduct off shore drilling within the federal borders. Gingrich, 14) With rising prices, off shore drilling would be an transcendent choice on congress part that would create more employment opportunities, more products available to export, and certainly more stabil ity in the energy crisis.The Scotsman newspaper published a statement that give tongue to that the off shore drilling industry would supplement enormous opportunities worldwide. With advances in technology, Subsea exerciseing, separating, compressing, and pumping are on the shooting edge of offshore production technology, especially for deep and radical deepwater and too harsh environments. (Kliewer, 1) The last major oil spill to get along within the Gulf of Mexico was in 1980. It is also fact that ninety-five percent of the oil that is found within the gulf is not caused by mankind activity at all.Being that oil is a natural resource and readily available right below the surface, the majority of all oil comes naturally from the earths crust on its own. (Gingrich, 99) From the late 20th century to today, companies reach made it a personal goal to make their business as environmentally safe as possible, which benefits all parties involved. in that location are still continu ous efforts to completed this industry.Oil and natural gas companies believe that the use of technology and innovation and incentives will make it unessential to raise taxes to clean up the environment. (Gingrich, 145) These companies want to work with conservationists and environmentalists to properly counterpoise the extraction of natural resources with the wellbeing of the environment. This mindset portrays how maturely, sagaciously, and efficiently the oil and natural gas companies concupiscence to continue their business. Conservationists and environmentalists believe that offshore drilling is nought but detrimental to the natural occurrence of earth.Offshore oil drills are immutably harmful to both the flora and fauna of the sea, land, and air from a conservationists point of view. Within the northern most theatrical role of the United States, Alaska, polar bears are at serious risk that could lead to extinction if and when an oil spill was to occur. Oil covered polar be ars nurse little chance to survive spills, because the oil the bears ingest while hard to clean themselves could cause death. (Polar) Deep offshore drilling projects have been said to lead to the emission of lethal gasses. Drilling in water depths greater than 500 feet releases methane, a greenhouse gas at least xx times more potent than carbon dioxide in its contribution to world(a) warming. (Juhaz, 311) When a company goes into an area to drill for oil they must runner evaluate the area with sonar machines to determine if there is any amount of oil to be obtained.Seismic survey devices and military sonars have been concerned in numerous whale beaching and stranding incidents, including a mass stranding of sixteen whales in the Bahamas in December 2001. (Juhaz, 313) Marine animals and fish have much more sensitive hearing than humans and therefore the sonar machines can hurt their ability to attract mates and fend against predators. Environmentalists also scrutinize oil comp anies for the number of injuries that employees suffer while working on offshore oil rigs.The HSE inspects all oil rigs throughout the gulf. Within the past few years, the number of injuries has dropped a considerable amount. It is believed though, that the only reason these numbers were lower is due to the fact that a smaller number of actual injuries were reported. Low) seaside communities can also feel the negative effects of oil spills. These communities have no choice in what washes up on their shores, where the majority of their popularity can come from. If an oil spill were to occur, it is not a guarantee that they would go through any compensation for the damages. Costal tourist communities would especially suffer. If theres one spill or one disaster, you could destroy us for a very(prenominal) long time. (Juhaz, 314) Not only would their homes and communities be affected, but also their livelihood.Offshore oil and gas companies have exemplary motives, standards, and hope s for their business. Environmentalists constantly round off these companies with verbose denunciation that is often not valid. For instance, Juhasz wrote in his book The totalism of Oil that somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 tons of waste material is released into the water annually. This is misleading and obscure considering that the waste material consists of rock, mud, and minerals, all of which are overly abundant in the oceans without any human interference. 312)Many environmentalists also involve to ignore the fact that oil rigs have become essential and persistent habitats for marine life. A growing debate is emerging between those who wish to see the rigs disappear entirely and the ones who believe that doing so would destroy an grievous habitat. (Rothbach) Even non-intentionally, the owners of oil rigs are benefitting the environment in which they conduct business. It is very possible that they are doing more good than harm to the fish and plants that they primary intruded upon. It seems that environmentalists can be somewhat hypocritical in their attempt to extol their platform.It is clear that environmentalists will fight against offshore drilling no affaire what strides are made or facts are presented. The key is working to make a situation that benefits the consumers, companies, communities, and of course the environment. This is a very difficult labor movement at hand but manageable. As mentioned before, oil and gas companies are making noticeable strides in going green to benefit the environment. by dint of creative decision making, solutions can be present themselves in a way that all parties will find reasonable, even if not ideal. (Rothbach) In order to prevent the dispersing of dangerous drilling fluids, companies are working to bob up a water based, high alkaline solution of silica-based solutions called silanes. (Nowak) Companies are also working to set tight standards on carbon dioxide emissions, it will storm more fuel effi cient vehicles, which will in effect get down our dependence on foreign oil. (Martin) Also, subsea facilities are viewed as a raceway to bring production to market faster while extending life in the field. (Kliewer)The country of America is most definitely reliant on energy. With each household having an average of two cars each, fuel is a considerable necessity. (Marlin) Environmentalists try to belittle the need for power that America has. This cannot be done. Power is a need that should be on the pennant of the list to be addressed. The process of which to obtain it is something that should be done with the environment in mind. With the steps already being taken to create an ideal balance, success is visible on the horizon.With advances in technology it is more than possible for the oil industry to be clean, efficient, and environmentally friendly. America could rival-even exceed- the worlds biggest energy powerhouses. (Gingrich, 39) The offshore oil industry is a gold mine just waiting to be taken advantage of. America has just scratched the surface of its potential below its oceans and seas. Considering the fact, that the advances in safety and efficiency have recently been perfected, the timing is perfect to really dive into the fortune that will take America to the top of the power chain in the world.