Adamia Coverson
Mr. Gos
English 1301
1 Oct. 2015
Drafting Paper Assignment
Subject Point of Significance
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Should be protected from oil drilling
Dear President Barack Obama: As you may be aware, some of your Congressmen are wanting to drill for oil at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The main "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling" article on Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, said that US House of Representative passed yet another bill to drill oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in February of 2012. My main question is why is another bill being passed if it has be declined twelve times already? If drilling were to occur, lots of animals would be without a home and eventually the species will become extinct. The US Fish & Wildlife Service states that the ANWR is well-known for the polar, grizzle, and black bear; wolf, Dall sheep, and the symbolic animal of the wildness of the refuge, the caribou. Not only will drilling affect the animals in the environment, it will affect the animals that depend on those of that environment. In order for an ecosystem to stay an ecosystem there are three aspects that interact with each other:
• Biodiversity
• Sustainability
• Adaptations
Sustainability and biodiversity go hand-in-hand. Sustainability is the ability to maintain valued qualities in a physical environment. Those qualities come from the biodiversity of the environment. Biodiversity is the variability among living
Many think that the land will be destroyed if the drilling becomes a reality, but the truth is that it is only going to be a small piece of ANWR that will be drilled on. Roads will not be made of gravel, but water from the rivers to be frozen over in the winter. That way the roads will disappear when they melt in the spring (Debate Over Oil 2). There is not going to be any sign of roads anywhere which will help keep the land beautiful. Oil companies have also come a long way in what is done before, during, and after drilling. High-tech exploration methods, new oil drilling technology, and better waste disposal techniques are all ways in which oil companies have improved. They are all very important in the sense that the United States will profit in the end.
Also would be hurting wildlife. Drilling in Alaska would allow many people to start their new career of working on the pipeline. I see it as being similar to the gold rush in the mid 1800’s. In the mid 1800’s many people fled out west to California on the hunt for gold. Gold was extremely rare but if one person found gold they would have money to go back home and support their families. This situation would be similar except it would oil. Drilling in Alaska would drastically change the unemployment rate. We can harness so much energy the United States has to offer and the first step is to get the oil that we already own. The unemployment rate has been declining and increasing constantly. Harvesting oil on the United States grounds would create jobs for thousands.
The Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) is a beautiful 19.6 million acre coastal plain, and is located in the Northeastern part of Alaska. ANWR is home to numerous species of wildlife and one of the largest untapped oil preserves in the United States. There is an immense debate between the opposing environmentalists and the politicians who want to drill for oil on a section of ANWR, which is only 1.8% of the refuge. Environmentalists who oppose drilling for oil in Alaska say the wildlife and the native populations are threatened by drilling for oil in ANWR, even though most of the natives are strongly in favor of drilling. ANWR could save the US from having to import $800 billion worth
Is developing the Arctic for oil and natural gas worth the powerful negative impact on the environment and native communities? The article published on September 20th, 2013 by Jennifer Weeks titled, “Future of the Arctic” examines the Arctic and the controversies within it. In the pro/con section of her article, Weeks asks the question, “Should the United States suspend Arctic offshore drilling?” Senator Mark Begich argues that the resources in the Arctic are too great of an opportunity to miss out on. Although Arctic drilling is a controversial topic, many people believe it should continue because of the financial and ethical circumstances; however, evidence to support this is lacking, which leads to the other side of the debate to be in
The question is should we drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. While there are downfalls to drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, the benefits to the country and to Alaska far outweigh them. These benefits include lower gas prices, more jobs, energy independence.
Offshore drilling has become an essential part of today’s oil production and demand for energy. With the growth of population comes the increasing demand for oil. The oil industry today, is one of the most used providers of energy. Today in the 20th century the majority of the population in America has a car and cars needs gas to run. The oil reserves in the earth that are easily accessible via land are starting to run dry and are becoming harder to find. This is why we have begun to see more and more offshore oil drills. Although there are benefits of offshore drilling such as profit, lower gas prices, and becoming less dependent on foreign oil. There are also many drawbacks in which if something were to go wrong, the mistake would be catastrophic impacting the environment, the nature, and have trickling effects all around the world.
In addition to concern about changes, was if drilling were to happen the negatives it would create to the tundra. Drilling on any form of earth is harmful in general. But because of how beloved the terrain is to the native, it only creates more conflicts.
Drilling for oil in Alaska will make animals in danger. The United States shouldn’t drill in Alaska because of wilderness, environment, and economics. Americans weren’t concerned about protecting natural resources because they thought they had a lot of natural resources. In 1980 the United States was importing more than a third of its oil. Also in 1980 America found themselves in a major oil crisis.
One might say the bill to open the refuge to drilling studies is bound to go nowhere, but many also know how insistent people can be when they want something as badly as the Republicans want to open the refuge. In the past oil drilling has caused many problems some might even argue it’s a cause for climate change.
America Should Reject the Oil Businesses Plan and Permanently Protect The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
In 2004, Questar sent a proposal to BLM to invest in directional drilling that would minimise the land occupied by wells, required roadways and distribution pipes. The innovation would reduce any harmful effect on the wildlife. However, the drilling method is costly but can be justified by continuous drilling all through winter.
The ANWR is a 19 million acre piece of land in Alaska that is home to many animals. This land is closed to hunting as well so the animals are not used to human interaction. Drilling extremely close to these animals would take out populations due to the heavy machinery and harmful waste. Drilling in the preserved ANWR would also deface the landscape. The beautiful and preserved landscape would be flooded by mounds of sewage sludge, scattered scrap metal, and over 60 contaminated waste sites. This would result in not only defaced landscape, but many animals dying due to waste sites and therefore lack of food. Drilling in the preserved land in Alaska would damage the natural environment including protected animals and
After decades of rancorous debate marked by legislative impasse, public protest, and mounting political pressure, the issue of opening the last of Alaska's pristine frontiers for oil drilling exploration appears may finally be moving towards a long-sought resolution. At the heart of this over thirty-year old conflict, waged bitterly between environmental activists and major petroleum producers, is a parcel of land containing nearly 20 million acres of untouched environmental resources known as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). While the ecological importance of the ANWR region is largely undisputed, as the preserve contains critical den grounds for the arctic's large mammals, including polar bears, caribou, and walruses, America's current economic crisis has intensified calls to tap ANWR for the millions of barrels of petroleum believed to be buried beneath its frozen soil. As a member of several environmental activist organizations, my firm belief that drilling for oil in ANWR would be disastrous in terms of biodiversity has motivated a search for alternative methods of message delivery, because while preserving the glory of nature's bounty is my overriding objective, this passion is not shared by the business executives, laborers, and investors who hold a vested interest in oil production. Rather than simply cling fiercely to the moral appeal of ecological conservation, I have strived to examine the issue of drilling for oil in ANWR through an objective lens,
The battle over drilling in the ANWR to decrease our dependence on foreign oil has been debated since the park first opened in 1960 during the Eisenhower administration; however, it has reached a new peak with the recent terrorist attacks and the very pro-oil administration. With both our President and Vice President being former oilmen, the opening of the ANWR has been proposed (and heavily fought for) in their new energy bill (Kadlec). The section, which the Bush administration wishes to open, is located on the coastal plain and designated as Area 1002 encompassing 1.5 million acres (McCarthy). In 1998 the United States Geological Survey did a study of the land and found that it would produce an estimated 3 billion barrels to 16 billion barrels, barely a dent in the United States 7.1 billion barrel yearly consumption (NRDC).
According to Oxford Dictionary, biodiversity means the state of having a large amount of different number of animals and plants which make a balanced environment. Biodiversity is also known as flora and fauna. The meaning of flora is all the plants growing in a particular area while fauna means all the animals of an area or a period of time. Rafflessia for flora while tiger for fauna is a case in point.