Why offshore Drilling Is an Archaic Idea

Why Offshore Drilling is an Archaic Idea

By Nicole Dobbins

Thousands of barrels of crude oil are pouring directly into the Gulf of Mexico from an underground reservoir. This disaster is destroying the environment in and surrounding the water. The failsafe mechanism that was supposed to shut off the oil pipe when Deepwater Horizon exploded failed to do its job. Now thousands of people are out of work and thousands more will be soon. Instead of pumping billions of dollars into pumping oil out of the Gulf of Mexico, corporations should spend the money funding alternative energy research and development.

On April the 20th, 2010, an oil rig owned by BP burst into flames off the coast of Louisiana. Something had gone horribly wrong on Deepwater Horizon, the cause of which still has not been identified. Seventeen people were injured and eleven are missing and presumed dead. They would only be the first casualties.

Economist Vincent Lauerman argues that we need oil to work within the global economy, and 40 percent of the world's oil reserves may be in the Gulf. There is another side of the story where economics are concerned, however.

Hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil are pouring into the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf is famous for its seafood and beautiful beaches; the livelihood of the communities that lie in the affected areas depends on tourism. When the beaches are closed off and the marine life poisoned, there is nothing left to draw visitors in to these areas to keep commerce alive.

On the same note, fishermen in these areas cannot fish. This will drive up the cost of seafood internationally and some varieties will be virtually nonexistent in the market for several years. For example, bluefin tuna are found exclusively in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the Telegraph (a newspaper based out of the United Kingdom) these fishermen's only hope to provide for their families is to get a job setting up booms for BP. Those services will not be needed for long and no one can tell the men how long it will be until the sea life will cease to be toxic.

The booms that the fishermen are running are being placed around islands that are protected bird sanctuaries. Unfortunately, the millions of birds that are currently in the Gulf of Mexico have had their food supply cut off as well. They are dealing with a double blow; one that the National Wildlife Foundation is afraid will affect their habitat for decades, and "some species may suffer significant long-term population declines."

On top of this, officials have lit controlled areas of the slick on fire in an attempt to minimize damage to marine life. Unfortunately this produces fumes that are detrimental to the respiratory system. The Environmental Protection Agency has been running "round-the-clock air monitoring" in an attempt to warn those that suffer from chronic illnesses such as asthma, but what will happen to the birds and animals that won't benefit from the advanced warning?

Another argument for offshore drilling comes from Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu, in an interview with WWL-TV in New Orleans on May 2nd. "Our country needs this oil; there is no question about that. We have to produce this oil at home unless we want to be completely reliant." This is true--53 percent of the oil used in the United States comes from other countries. But instead of expanding offshore drilling, why don't oil companies drill on the 68 million acres of land they already own, that's just sitting here undeveloped?

According to the United States Department of Energy, oil is used for seven types of energy. Liquefied petroleum gases, heating oil, and heavy fuel oil total less than five percent of the distillate of crude oil. Jet fuel is just over four percent, and various products are created from seven percent of crude oil distillate. The remaining 29 percent is transformed into diesel and gasoline. That number can be reduced significantly by pushing alternative propulsion systems into the spotlight. If oil companies bisect and create divisions dedicated to alternative energy research and development, they can maintain their profits and in return the price of electric, hybrid and hydroelectric vehicles will be lowered to a range that will make them more accessible to members of the middle class.

The middle class accounts for the largest number of drivers in the country, mostly due to urban sprawl and the lack of highly functional mass transit in areas outside of major cities such as New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. The reason alternative vehicles are not more prevalent is because they are so expensive. If they were more affordable and more readily available, gasoline and diesel consumption would be significantly lowered and less crude oil would be needed. Military installations began using electric cars, which use only a few hundred dollars' worth of electricity, but save several thousands of dollars in fuel costs annually. That's a good start.

Everyone agrees that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has the potential to be the worst environmental disaster in the history of the United States. What is not common knowledge is the fact that this is the second time within a period of eight months that a BOP has failed on an oil rig. On August 21st of 2009, an oil rig operated by a company based out of Thailand began seeping crude oil into the Timor Sea, off the coast of Australia. Oil spilled into the sea for over ten weeks before workers managed to cap it off. Some people think hazards such as these are unfortunate, but inevitable consequences of human development.

Newt Gingrich recently quoted himself for Fox News: "the truth is that we can produce more American energy and do it responsibly. Of course, we will not - and cannot - eliminate all risk of harm to the environment as we produce more energy. All energy sources have risks, but the key is to take measures to minimize them." It is true, all energy sources have risks, and it is key to try to minimize the potential damages. Unfortunately as Deepwater Horizon, Exxon Valdez, and the Timor Sea accidents have proven, oil production is the most damaging energy source of all. Gingrich insists that instead of stopping offshore oil production, measures should be taken on a federal level to diminish the chance of such a catastrophe occurring in the future.

It is already extremely uncommon for a BOP to fail or an oil tanker to sink, but there should never be the possibility for these failures to occur in the first place. By forcing every oil rig to stop drilling in American waters, the government can make sure a disaster of this magnitude can never happen again, rather than simply lessening the possibility of future occurrences. In allowing for