Arctic Drilling

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The Arctic Circle is a snowy paradise that harbors diverse species and beautiful landscapes. It also happens to be home to an estimated thirteen to twenty-five percent of the world’s undiscovered crude oil, averaging out to about 90 billion barrels of oil (Gerkens, 2014). Alaska in particular is home to one of the largest sources of oil in the United States. Underneath the barren land and icy waters is thought to be over 412 billion barrels of oil and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. A majority of these fossil fuels are located in North Slope, Alaska and in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off the coast of Alaska. However, reaching this fuel can be quite difficult and perilous. Drilling on land is strongly protested and drilling in the ocean can be treacherous. There are pros and cons to drilling for oil in the Arctic and the effects of drilling could be positive or negative. (Dlouhy, 2014)
There are fantastic positives that could come from drilling in the Arctic Circle, specifically in Alaska. The United States currently spends over a trillion dollars on retrieving oil from countries such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela. The United States depend on other countries to provide fuel for it’s use. One barrel of oil costs $135 which adds up to about $1.3 trillion that is spent on fossil fuels for the country. The cost pays for labor, the actual fuel, and the delivery of the product. If the country decided to put that money into drilling in Alaska, all of the leftover money would be put to better use in the country. Assuming that all of the focus was put on recovering oil from Alaska, it would save the United States about $1.7 trillion dollars and would create an abundant number of jobs (Arctic Power, 2014). Another ...

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