In the wake of hurricane Katrina it has become apparent to Americans of our reliance on oil. The gulf supplies 28 % of our oil production so the need to diversify, so as not to succumb to a national crisis is becoming more apparent and crucial. One would think that the government would want to relieve us from our dependency on oil by diversifying our sources of energy, but instead they just want to drill in new places for oil. The new drilling site is the 19 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which
lies in the northeast corner of Alaska. . The refuge is a nursery and haven to caribou, polar bears, walruses, shorebirds and waterfowlIn a September 15 2005 letter to Congressional leaders, Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew said, "it has come to our attention that this disaster (Katrina) is being used by some to promote the development of petroleum resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, using energy security as their rationale." He also wrote that, "The minimal oil resources in the Arctic Refuge will not make a timely or significant contribution to U.S. energy supplies." To my dismay the bill allowing for the drilling was passed on September 28, 2005.
Although the drilling and oil production will have many environmental restrictions, it will still cause destruction and pollution to the surrounding areas. The transportation of the oil to the US will cause even more pollution. Then the sites of drilling will run dry and are only option will to be to drill in another part of the refuge. There are better solutions to this problem.
Currently Chevron-Texaco is in a lawsuit for the environmental and health damages they
caused when drilling in Ecuador from 1971-1992. The amount of damages is estimated at 6 billion dollars. The picture is one of theoile pits they left behind. The amount of oil extracted from that site in two decades would be consumed by American cars in 13 days? Was it worth it? Is it worth is to drill in Alaska?In a side note since there is a new hype about hybrid cars Hybrid cars are great in the effect that they emit 30-50% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than conventional cars and that they use less gas, but once again they are not a solution. The energy source is still derived from coal- so where is that really getting us?
posted by Samantha @ 4:51 PM
4 Comments:
Your topic is very interesting. In this semester, I am taking basic Geology course about the natural disaster and energy of the Earth. It is very interesting to learn how the earth develop, how energy impacts to our lives, what formed the Earth, what are natural disasters.... Your site help me to gain more knowledge of what is going on and happening to the Earth so far. To me, the more heat the Earth increase, the more raining and natural disaster will occur.
Keep up with your site. I think it is very helpful.
Oh my God! – They are milking the Katrina tragedy now. I did not know of this. Thank you for bringing such an important topic to the forefront in this blog. I don’t understand where the capitalistic greed of these corporations is going to take us. Will all this ever stop? Since, the industrial revolution, the earth has only witnessed deterioration and depletion of the natural resources. And the worst thing is that these corporations get away with all this, as was the case with the Bhopal Gas tragedy. We have to use solar energy. I wish these powerful politicians and corporate leaders are for once selfless and think of the environment. But, then that might never happen.
I believe that good things truly may come out of this dissaster with katrina, in terms of energy and finding new options. I was shocked with how jacked up gas prices became. I had never been a huge supporter of finding new resources, but now i can see how important it will be to find a new resource. It seems rediculous how we are drilling in so many new places, and how dependent we are becoming on importing petroleum. Katrina really has improved support across the U.S. and hopefully something will come from it. I also found it to be interesting how you brought up the past and how it relates to the present. Keep up the good work and i'm interested to see what next week will bring in terms of different sources of energy
I think that hybrid cars are a good transition into other forms of power. It lets people hold on to something familiar while trying something new at the same time. If you can get people to drive vehicles that emit up to half the amount of emissions, then that is a great start. It is not a final answer, but it is a good starting point.
I knew drilling for oil was disruptive to the environment and the animals and people living in it, but I had no idea how much! I was really surprised to read the part about Ecuador. Twenty one years of destruction, all swallowed up in less than two weeks of driving???? That is a perfect reason to branch out to different energy sources.
I always agreed with the need for change, but never really knew any of the facts and figures. I definitely do not support drilling in Alaska, especially as a short term solution for anything.
I think the main issue is that people have to embrace change, and new forms of energy before the current ones run out. I know it wont be soon, but if people do not plan for it, no progress will be made. Like with the hydrogen cars today. My brother told me they are testing them, but the major issue is that they wont be able to really market them until their is the necessary outlets for them. Right now there are very few hydrogen cars, and they cannot go very far...not because they lack the ability, but because once they get a certain distance away, and need to re-fuel, there will be nowhere to do so.
Im sure its hard to find the perfect balance of introducing a new kind of car, and all the necessary parts/places...but isnt that what engineers are paid to figure out?
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