Offshore Drilling

Matthew Tom
A08949413
Tuesday 6 PM
Offshore Drilling
Although efforts have been made to find alternative fuel sources, at this time the United States continues to be dependent upon oil for the majority of its energy needs. Unfortunately, the nation does not produce enough oil domestically to meet this need. Therefore, the U.S must import foreign oil form unstable regions of the world such as the Persian Gulf. There are studies that indicate the U.S imports half of the 6 billion barrels that it needs each year, at an annual rate of approximately $42 billion. 50 percent of nation current trade deficit is due to the large-scale of importation of oil. Because of this situation, it has been argued that the United States should make a greater effort to exploit domestic oil resources. Although there are many onshore sites for oil, the most exploitable regions are located offshore, along the continental shelf. It has been estimated that as much as 35 billion barrels of oil maybe found along the costal waters of the United States. In order to obtain this oil, new offshore drilling platforms would need to be established, similar to the ones that already exist in the Gulf of Mexico and along the coasts of California and Florida. However, many Americans are adamantly opposed to the idea of building new offshore drilling sites because of the ecological risks which are involved.
Offshore oil drilling results in both sea and land based pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency claims that “with offshore drilling comes substantial routine pollution in the forms of oil and gas.” Nothing is ever done about the pollution, and until something is done about the oil being put into the sea, our oceans are at risk. Between 3 and 6 million tons of oil are discharged into the oceans every single year from oil shore drilling. The current effects of dumping raw oil into the ocean have severe impacts on the marine life and the surrounding environment. Companies that dump raw oil...