Oil Spill Problems

The major environmental venture which is involved in onshore drilling is that of an embrocate color spill. The cataclysm of March 1989, in which the Exxon Valdez oiler accidentally dumped tons of oil into Prince William Sound near Alaska, is still fresh in the minds of close to Americans. This disaster was a shocking visual example of the bionomic damage which can occur as a allow for of a large oil spill. Media coverage of the event showed that twain sealife and shorelines atomic number 18 subject to severe danger during a major spill. Although the Prince William Sound disaster was caused by a tanker, most plenty also see offshore drilling as a possible source for future spills. The oil industry has responded to this push by claiming that the danger is not as great as most people think it is. Thus, the industry argues that its overall guard duty record is very good and that accidental spills are in truth very rare despite the sensationalized media coverage of the Valdez spill (Rosendahl, 1990, p. 3).

In addition to oil spills, however, there are also other possible ecological dangers caused by the existence of offshore drilling. For example, substances cognise as "heavy muds" are used to lubricate the machinery contained on drilling platforms. These muds often contain toxic additives (Parker, 1990, p. 18). All offshore drilling sites create vast amounts of these potentially toxic muds. In this regard, it has been noted that up to

fossil oil and Water. (1990, May 21). Fortune 121: p. 16.

Ince, Martin. (1988, July 15). Disasters waiting to happen. New Statesman & hostelry 1: pp. 26-27.

The importance of the offshore drilling issue has brought the federal political relation into the controversy. In response to the opposition of residents in states such(prenominal) as California and Florida, the government passed legislation in 1980 which primed(p) strict limits on offshore drilling everywhere transport the Gulf of Mexico (Sheets, 1990, p. 36). This policy was further enforced in the summertime of 1990, when the federal government "placed much of the U.S. coastline off limits to oil and natural gas exploration for the rest of this century" (p. 36).

more than recently, however, the government has begun to show an interest in resuming domestic exploration. Thus, the 1991 subject field Energy Strategy of the Bush Administration included plans for leasing the coastal plains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. This plan emphasise the idea that such exploration and drilling would be carried start with "no significant adverse effect on slant and wildlife, their habitat, and the environment" (Crow, 1991, p. 29). However, this promise does not reduce the threat which is represent by accidental oil spills or by the throw out of drilling muds and other toxic residues.

The only way to genuinely overcome these dangers is to break America's dependence on oil altogether. two foreign oil and domestic oil are as threatening in terms of the nation's ecological balance. Both tanker ships and drilling platforms are subject to the possible danger of spillage. Those who are concerned with saving the environment believe that it is time for the U.S. government to abandon its archaic energy policies. Instead of continuing to be fixated on the maintenance of an oil economy, it is argued that the time has come for the joined States to seek out alternative fuel sources. In particular, it is urged that the American government begin expl
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