Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Offshore Oil Drilling

The Obama adminisrtation has recently created a new policy that will allow for offshore oil drilling off the American coastline. This decision comes at a time where we are working towards energy independence as well as a cleaner more stable environment. This policy will affect both of these goals in completly different ways. Allowing for offshore drilling of the Atlantic, Alaskan and Gulf coasts will help temporarily reduce our dependence on foreign oil and increase jobs; however, the amount of resources located off the atlantic coast in particular is of debate and is not enough to create long term sustainability at the current rate of use. This is only a temporary solution and will not change any long term resource problems. Due to this fact and possibility for environmental and economic damage that could be a result of a spill, the negetive externalities far outweigh the economic benefit of drilling. While drilling technologies have improved greatly over the past twenty years, the possibilities for spills and pollution is still a great risk. Not only human error, but storms, technologly failure and installation of platforms will all have the possibility to create environmental problems. The atlantic coast is highly dependent on tourism, recreation and its fisheries for its livelyhood especially on coastal communuties. The impact a spill or disaster would have on these communities would be devastating for the entire coast. The proximity to the coastline of this proposed drilling is also of concern for coastal communities. With a proposed site fifty miles from the coast of Virginia the entire continental shelf will be at risk of oil spills. When one takes into account the amount of ocean species that thrive on the small area of continental shelf versus the opean ocean, the population density of species is over 100 times that of the open ocean in terms of shear volume. As an integral part of the ocean ecosystem and an its influince on the coastal economy the value of the ecosystem of the continental shelf creates this problem of which issue is a more important one and a cost benefit analysis will not take into account all of the externalities of a platform failure of spill.

14 comments:

  1. I don't think this is a good idea either. We need to address the energy issue much differently, for instance decreasing our dependence on foreign oil by decreasing our use of oil and other fossil fuels. The solution to the energy problem lies in alternative energy resources and improving efficiency.

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  2. I agree there needs to be more long term solutions but this could be a temporary solution until we can obtain those goals, almost like a stepping stone. I almost feel like this is an attempt by Obama to lean more towards the center after passing a health care bill that angered most republicans.

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  3. I don't think this will be used as a stepping stone though. Most proponents for drilling in the U.S. I've heard see it as the main alternative.

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  4. I agree that this could serve as an important step in the very near future to weaning the U.S. off of foreign oil. However, reserves here in the states, even given offshore reserves, are not plentiful given current consumption rates. But considering popular acceptance of and political legislation for alternative energies, it seems unlikely that such resources would not be exploited eventually. It could prove beneficial to extract from these reserves now, driving national R&D to develop alternative energies at a faster rate.

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  6. This policy does seem to be more problematic than helpful...and also a temporary solution to a much bigger and more complicated problem. I agree with the above comment that it will help lower our dependence on foreign oil, however, it is a resource that we should steer away from to fulfill our goals of environmental health and sustainability. The negative externalities you alluded to is a good defense against this policy, especially oil spills. The government would have to pay a hefty amount if this happened. A website estimating the costs is http://www.environmental-research.com/publications/pdf/1999-IOSC-Cost.pdf

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  7. I agree that the costs this policy will have on the environment far outweight the economic benefits, but we are still an industrialzed nation that is very dependent on fossil fuel. It would be impossible to completely deny the development of new fossil fuel reserves from a practical as well as economic perspective. Perhaps this area could be exploited using new technologies that are less invasive. Another way to mitigate these effects would be to force those who do exploit this area to pay a fine per unit extracted to go towards an environmental cause elsewhere. It seems like somewhat of a middle ground could be reached if some effort went into the research and design behind this policy.

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  8. Offshore drilling by-and-large is a safe practice. I understand the risks, but in order to gain some energy independence, some risks must be taken. What if a spill mitigation system was developed to protect coastal habitats?

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  9. Something needs to be done to gain our independence from foreign oil. If the drilling takes place only for a short time this could buy us some time to research alternative methods while temporarily halting our dependence on foreign oil. We can't power our nation with solar panels and wind turbines, at least not yet.

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  10. Offshore oil drilling is a safe practice in terms of oil spills. When was the last time a rig had a major oil spill, does anyone know? Offshore drilling is so much cleaner and cheaper than coal or nuclear power, why would we want to steer away from offshore drilling when its probably our most cost beneficial source of energy. Not only do oil rigs provide the U.S. with tons of natural gas and oil, but they provide for excellent reefs. Now is the time for exploration if we want to find a renewable source of energy. The Gulf and Atlantic have potential for energy resources. The ocean is one of the least explored areas on our planet. We need to harness those resources now and into the future.

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  11. Mike, you said that the Atlantic might not have the resources for long term sustainably. The Atlantic has been off limits for drilling for a long time and has probably never been drilled before. SO really we don't know what is out there. Geologists have ideas of what might be there. If you look at whats going on in the Gulf, rigs are harnessing tons of energy from the it, and have been for a long time now. I would think that this should be some indication that we should explore other areas. I think that what the Obama administration is doing will really help us not only now, but well into the future.

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  12. Hugh, The last time a rig had a major spill was less than a week ago in the Gulf of Mexico where a platform exploded and up to eleven people were killed. No matter how much care is taken accidents happen, and the environment will pay the price. Here is the story
    http://www.upi.com/Daily-Briefing/2010/04/22/Oil-platform-explosion/UPI-34511271940100/

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  13. I also disagree to having offshore oil drilling, when its a short term solution with the amount of long term consequences that are in play. I believe that there must by a different solution, that can sway away from depending on oil drilling in the ocean. If we could possibly find the same type of Bio-diesel fuel dependency in which Brazil's main dependency sources from.

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  14. Although offshore drilling would undeniably allow for the U.S. to tap a domestic energy resource at a relatively low cost, I think that the ecological costs outweigh the benefits. Although offshore drilling is generally promoted as being a clean option, areas in the U.S. that have had offshore drilling prove otherwise. Anybody who has been to the Louisiana coast or the areas surrounding Galveston, Texas have seen that these coastlines have been severely impacted by the drilling industry. To see the same consequences fall upon the beautiful California coastline or on the East coast would be a shame.

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