Drilling in ANWAR protects the Environment
Today I was putting off studing and checking out some blogs when I came across this one by Brad Parker. He starts off by explaining where he comes from and states a very interesting arguement. Basically the world has a certain amount of need for oil. This oil needs to be produced somewhere. One of the benefits of producing it here in the US is the rules and regulations that help keep things clean. Honestly, we have to realize that we are very successful in enforcement of our regulations compared to others, and thus by producing oil in the US, we are keeping things cleaner. This could also lower prices, and perhaps could create restraints on other oil producers to improve their quality.
So, drilling in ANWAR is actually protecting the environment.
posted by Nicole and Andy @ 10:26 PM
4 Comments:
I agree with Brad Parker in that we need oil. Our lives as we know it would be very different without it. The question then becomes what is the most economically and ecologically sound way to get it. There are alternatives out there that we can begin using. I know that things won't change overnight and we won't stop using oils anytime soon. Ideally we can begin using alternatives slowly, working our way to using environmentally sustainable and reusable resources.
Brad Parker made some important points. That we need oil for lots or things, not just gas, is easily forgotten. That the best country to drill cleanly and effeciently is the United States (if that's true.) And that the US is the largest consumer of petroleum products and should take some responsibility with finding and drilling at home. It's bad enough that the US has to police the whole world, but to depend on other countries for oil because we don't want to get a few of our own trees dirty doesn't make sense.
I think the US needs to drill sensibly and most importantly, cleanly. I also believe alternative technologies need to be pursued, but it will take a long time until they phase everything else out. People didn't stop riding trains cause two brothers in Kittyhawk, NC flew a plane.
Nice point about trains and planes! I hate to sound like a copycat, but I too agree with Brad Parker's opinion on drilling for oil in Alaska. I had never thought about the policies on environmental protection that other countries have on oil drilling. It is an obvious fact that we are an oil consuming monster and there is no end in sight to our consumption. Why shouldn't we realize this and take some action?
THe idea that the world will always need oil is probably correct. The question then becomes "How much?" Back in the early 1900's i'm sure there were people who said we would always need coal. They were right, but as the steam engine became obsolete, so did much of the need for that coal. Maybe it's time we made more of an effort to let the full gasoline engine go the way of steam in favor of hybrids or other technology. Maybe rather than putting money into drilling in Anwar, we should put it into new technology that would make our oil consumption less of a monster.
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