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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.... (2014, February). Melting Sea Ice and Arctic Drilling: A Risky Combination. The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 9, 2014 from, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/04/melting-sea-ice-arctic- drilling_n_4725363.html
Jacobson, R. (2013, September). Controversy Over Shell’s Exploration in Arctic Continues. PBS. Retrieved February 25, 2014, from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/ controversy-over-shells-oil-exploration-in-arctic-continues/
Klint, C. (2014, January). Shell Suspends 2014 Arctic Offshore Drilling in Alaska. KTUU.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014 from, www.ktuu.com/news/news/shell-suspends-2014-arctic-drilling-in-alaska/ 24197086
La Ganga, M. L. (2014, January). Arctic Ocean Oil Drilling Opponents Win Appeal. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 10, 2014 from,
http://articles.latimes.com/2014/jan/22/nation/la-na-arctic-drilling-20140123
Drilling for oil in Alaska will cause the environment and animals to suffer. Oil drilling in Alaska started in 1980 when America found itself in an oil crisis. So a solution for this crisis was to start drilling for oil in other locations. The largest oil field in North America was in Prudhoe Bay on the north coast of Alaska. Prudhoe Bay would soon account for 20% of all domestic U.S. oil production. Despite the oil crisis in 1980, Congress formed a wildlife reserve just east of Prudhoe Bay. it was called The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge(ANWR). Document A.
Almost every single nation in our world today, the United States included, is extremely reliant on oil and how much of it we can obtain. Wars have started between countries vying for control of this valuable natural resource. The United States as a whole has been trying to reduce its reliance on foreign oil and has had some success, especially with the discovery of the Bakken formation and projects like the Keystone Pipeline. Projects like the Keystone Pipeline are important as they will allow us to transport more oil than we would be able to in train cars, and grant larger access to oil reserves in the United States and Canada. The Keystone Pipeline itself is an oil pipeline which runs from the western Canadian sedimentary basin in Alberta, Canada to refineries in the United States.
Throughout this exhibition the term exploiting will refer to benefiting from. Also, this exhibition will explore some of the ways, that people have been exploiting Arctic resources, for the last 4500 years. It will begin by explaining the location of the Arctic, and what indigenous people did to survive. Followed by, why Europeans went there, and what Arctic states are doing at present.
There is an abundance of oil underneath earth’s crust on land and in the water but getting to that oil can be proven as a challenge and a negative impact on the earth. Many of these oil reservoirs lie in federally protected land or water to minimize the negative impact on the earth. But should those restrictions be removed? Removing the restrictions can allow the US to tap into domestic reserves rather than rely on imported oil from the Middle East and Asia but tapping these reservoirs can also leave behind an impact that is harmful to this planet. “Critics oppose this move for fear that it will cause irreparable harm environmental harm. They point to the April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as evidence of the risks associated with offshore drilling” (SIRS).
..."Alaska Oil Spill Fuels Concerns Over Arctic Wildlife, Future Drilling." National Geographic News. 20 Mar. 2006. Web. 3 July 2010.
The United States relies on imports for about forty percent of its crude oil, which is the lowest rate of dependency since 1991 according to the U.S Energy Information Administration. Today our country is trying to keep on track in becoming less and less dependent. When it comes to the topic of the future ways the United States will get its fuel, most of us readily agree that the United States should become more independent by using natural gas that is already here on our land. Where this argument usually ends, however, is on the question of the consequences drilling for natural gas brings. Whereas some are convinced drilling is safe, others maintain that it is actually in fact dangerous. Hydraulic fracturing or "fracking", the terms for drilling for natural gas, is dangerous to our public health and to the environment because of the water contamination it causes. Therefore, it is not something that should become a project for alternative fuel used by the United States.
...ural gas is very expensive. The main positive aspect is that, when burned, natural gas gives off lower emissions to our environment oil. In the future, due to its great abundance, I am sure that offshore drilling will remain viable to our society for many years to come.
The main issue discussed in the article is TransCanada's change of strategy, regarding new developments in their seven year battle to gain approval for the construction of the Keystone pipeline. Previously former Republican governor Dave Heineman had given TransCanada a route and eminent domain rights in Nebraska to build their pipeline. Due
The Arctic Tundra The Tundra is located in the northern regions of North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. as well as a few regions of Antarctica. The Tundra is the second largest vegetation. zone in Canada. It can be divided into three different sections: the High Arctic Tundra, the Low Arctic Tundra and the Alpine Tundra.
Gasland is a documentary about a man who is offered money to sell his land for natural gas drilling companies and finds out that people are having problems where natural gas drilling companies are in place. In his journey, he finds out that people are having problems with their water supply, sometimes even far as to be enough to burn. After taking samples from the water, he finds out that it contains toxic chemicals. A proof came out when several fishes, birds and rabbits were found dead around the polluted water.
The modern world of today runs on fossil fuels with crude oil being the live blood of industrialized countries. Though much of the twentieth century old was plentiful easily acquired and low in cost it has only been in the past thirty years that we have seen oil prices rise substantially. This can be attributed to many different reason. These price changes have challenged the industrialized world to become more creative with their techniques of both acquiring oil and using it.
Denning Dan, “Oil Shale Reserves, Can Oil Shale Change The World” The Daily Reckoning, n.d., web, 26 August 2011
In the story,“The Wreck of the Kulluk” (2014) written by McKenzie Funk, Funk revealed that Shell was eager to pursue more oil in what are called proved reserves due to their Arctic leases nearing expiration date. These proved reserves are otherwise known as “a petroleum company’s most sacred promise about the future” (Funk, 2014, pg. 1). Oil companies have no hesitation when going to extreme limits to find this precious resource, and we can no longer continue to sustain the methods used for obtaining fuel due it affects all aspects of our society. Our selfishness and ignorance are destroying the very elements humans need to survive, and will only lead to the end of life on planet Earth. Had different decisions been made by fuels companies
When you need top-quality drilling and well repair services, Coolwater Drilling of Bremerton, WA, is the company to turn to. From well abandoning to pump installation, their fully licensed and insured team of professionals offer the expert workmanship that can only result from almost 40 years of dedicated service.
In 2009, the filmmaker Josh Fox set out on a journey to discover the harmful risks of natural gas drilling. His property,sitting on a huge reservoir called marcellus shale field, is recognized for its abundance of natural gas. The energy policy act of 2005 exempts natural gas drilling from certain environmental regulations. This act incentivized the oil industry to invest more on natural gas. For this reason, natural gas development has altered the lives of many people. For example, there was a scene that demonstrated the the extent of the contamination. People’s houses became so contaminated with natural gas that their water caught on fire. And in other cases, the exposure to natural gas lead to spike in health problems. Preliminary studies