On April 20, 2010, chaos erupted as a drilling unit exploded, leaving 11 dead, and about 134 million gallons of water seeping into the Gulf of Mexico. The dreadful effects of this colossal spill would last for years and years to come, with the practice of deep water oil drilling to blame.
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Written by: Sadie Levitt
On April 20, 2010, chaos erupted as a drilling unit exploded, leaving 11 dead, and about 134 million gallons of water seeping into the Gulf of Mexico. The dreadful effects of this colossal spill would last for years and years to come, with the practice of deep water oil drilling to blame. Deep water oil drilling is the investigation of the seabed for oil and natural gas resources beneath the ocean floor. The very first oil extraction mission took place in 1896, in a small California town. Fast forward many years, and oil rigs began to pop up in shallow coastal waters with rich oil deposits. The discussion over whether deep water drilling is safe, is debated by many around the world, as new research is developed by the day, to exhibit the effects of this drilling practice. As exhibited by this research, deep water oil drilling is unnecessary and dangerous. This oil extraction method is more expensive and time consuming than alternative options, has catastrophic effects on sea life, and releases various toxic emissions into the atmosphere.
The extraction of oil through the deep seabed costs far more than onshore drilling procedures and takes an immense amount of time. In a science direct article about the prices of deepwater oil drilling, author Luiz Amado articulates that “For onshore, it will be 100,000 $ per day, and for deepwater offshore drilling [in the] Gulf of Mexico, it can be very high up to 600,000 to 800,000 $ per day”(Amado). This shows the drastic difference in financial expense between onshore and offshore drilling. Offshore drilling is significantly more expensive adding up to around 600,00 nore dollars per day. The colossal gap in price illustrates how unnecessary deep water drilling is. Furthermore, in an article by Oceana, it is stated that “For usual depth up to 20,000 ft, it takes 70 to 80 days and for deeper depths up to 32,000 ft, a maximum of 150 days.”(Offshore). Not only is this method more expensive, but it is far more tedious, taking about double the amount of time as onshore drills. The labor put into these pricey and time consuming rigs are a waste, as you can get a product of equal quality with far less hassle. Due to the vast amount of money as well as time spent on offshore drilling, this practice is futile.
In addition to the financial determinants of deepwater oil rigs, they have detrimental effects on sea life. Seismic airguns are a technology used to find oil and gas underneath the ocean floor. Oceana explains that following the blast of a seismic airgun which is “100,00 times more intense than a jet engine, catch rates of cod and haddock declined by 40 to 80 percent for thousands of miles.”(Offshore). This suggests that due to the process of offshore drilling, a significant amount of sea animals are dying. Not only is deep water drilling unnecessary, but it also has inherently negative effects on aquatic life. Additionally, while explaining the negative impacts of deep water drilling, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) explained that “Oil destroys the insulating ability of fur-bearing mammals, such as sea otters”(How does). This exposes these animals to harsh elements that they are not physically equipped to handle. Without insulation to combat cold water, these animals will die of hypothermia. Drilling for oil beneath the ocean floor is dangerous and extremely harmful to marine life.
Along with the negative effects on sea creatures, deep water oil drilling is very toxic to the Earth’s atmosphere. In an article by Oceana, it states that “In 2006, oil consumption accounted for nearly 45 percent of United States’ carbon dioxide emissions.”(Offshore). If we do not shift to a clean energy economy, our climate crisis will continue to worsen. Deep water drilling releases an astronomical amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, making up for a large portion of our Earth’s pollution. This pollution is extremely dangerous as The Wilderness Society affirms that air pollution from fossil fuels can, “lead to respiratory, cardiovascular and other diseases and is responsible for more than 13 percent of deaths in people aged 14 and older in the United States. “(7 ways). This shows how dangerous pollution in the air can be to everyday people. As offshore drilling is such a large contributor to toxic emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere, it suggests that it is an extremely unsafe practice as it is partially to blame for a large number of deaths. Deep water drilling is not only detrimental to the atmosphere, it is intoxicating, but also the people who are living in these intensely polluted areas.
Due to the damaging effects on the Earth’s atmosphere, sea life, and the immense money and time consumption, deep water oil drilling should not be practiced. Our planet is on the brink of an irreversible climate catastrophe and if we do not stop practices such as deep water oil drilling, it will be too late to stop our planet and life within it from impending extinction.
Amazon, Lewis. Drilling cost. (n.d.). ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full text articles and books. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/drilling-cost
How does oil impact marine life? (21, February 26). NOAA's National Ocean Service. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/oilimpacts.html
Offshore drilling. (n.d.). Oceana Europe. https://europe.oceana.org/en/offshore-drilling-0
Young, Robert. “Lethal Injection: Evidence Challenges the Notion that It Is Painless.”
The New York Times. 8 February 2006. A2. ProQuest, <http://proquest.umi.com>. Accessed 10 December 2007.
7 ways oil and gas drilling is bad for the environment. (n.d.). The Wilderness Society. https://www.wilderness.org/articles/blog/7-ways-oil-and-gas-drilling-bad-environment
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