Analysis on the Off-Shore Drilling Debate

                 Recently our nation has endured many tough months filled with an economic depression, a poor job market, and a never ending war in the Middle East. To top it all off, the largest oil spill in American history occurred April 20, 2010 creating mass havoc in the Gulf Coast region and only worsened our country’s problems. Since this event, the off-shore drilling debate has become an issue of national attention. Prior to this event, the majority of Americans were pro off-shore drilling. Since the oil began to flow though, more people have become against off shore drilling. However, our problems remain and off-shore drilling would help create jobs, supply American oil, and improve the economy. Should we gamble our environments and tourism industry, the stables for many coastal communities, and drill into our waters to find that ever sought after black gold?

                The first advantage many people relate to US offshore drilling is gaining energy independence. It is no secret that for years we have imported the majority of the oil we consume. We rely on the Middle East for the crude oil that our everyday lives demand. For this reason, we must live in fear that something like the 1973 oil crisis, which occurred after an embargo was put in place due to disagreement with American foreign policy, could happen again. Our dependence has only grown as our societies have progressed, yet no more oil is being produced. In order to fill our daily oil consumption, we would need to begin producing 20 million barrels a day. At the peak of US oil drilling, before the moratorium was put in place after the 1969 oil spill, only 10 million barrels were being produced. Nowadays, about six million barrels are being produced which is well short of our need.

                The next issue of off-shore drilling hits very close with most Americans. Unfortunately, we are a nation that depends on cars for transportation and many of these cars are not fuel-efficient. In the midst of this economic downturn, families are struggling to get food on their tables, let alone fill up the tank of their SUV. Gasoline prices are sky-rocketing to astronomical rates while we have no choice but to pay because we are completely dependent. Using American oil instead of importing from the conflict in the Middle East would no doubt lower prices.There are known to be 18 billion barrels of oil beneath the waters restricted in the moratorium.  Another eighty-five percent of the restricted waters have yet to be explored and could be holding hundreds of millions more. However, it is not realistic to believe that implementing off-shore drilling would have an effect on today’s gas prices. During the 2008 elections, Republican candidate John McCain used lower gas prices as a way to gain supporters of off-shore drilling. However, what was not being told to the American public was that if we begin drilling off-shore today and build the necessary number of oil wells to fit our demands, there will not be a significant impact on oil prices until at least 2030. By then, the world will be consuming up to 25 million more barrels of oil per day which will increase prices even more.

                There is no doubt our country is in an economic rut and we need all the help we can get. Is off-shore drilling the answer to our problems? Since the Deepwater Horizon spill in April 2010, the Gulf Coast region’s economy has been destroyed.  Previously a region with a booming economy consisting of oil, tourism, fishing, and NASA; now the area is struggling to recover. The fishing industry has been hurting after the oil spill depleted the populations and the tourism industry has been suffering because no one wants to go to a beach full of tar balls. This means that while the cleanup has been going on, the thousands of people who worked on those oil rigs have been out of work. Other professions in the community are suffering just as much as people leave the region in search of a better economy. By ending the moratorium on drilling in the Gulf Coast, thousands of jobs would be restored to the region along with additional oil and taxpayer revenues. However, the Deepwater Horizon spill hit the area as hard as Hurricane Katrina did in 2005. The region will likely be facing effects from the drilling for several years. For this reason, the area is scarred from the six month long ordeal following the Deepwater Horizon spill.  The region has been fighting the frustrating moratorium. New federal guidelines have been put in place in order to avoid future oil spills, but for now no drilling will take place.

                Unfortunately, something many people don’t think about as they fill up their tanks at their local gas stations is the environment that is ruined in order to get the oil and gas. Since the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, a moratorium has been in place for the East and West Coast. The Gulf Coast on the other hand, has been reaping the benefits of oil drilling with little side effects. However, this came to a halt when the well opened and 185 million gallons of oil began to flow into the crystal blue waters. The oil contaminated the waters resulting in oxygen depletion and petroleum toxicity. There was little chance for the animals as they began washing up on shore covered in the oil slick. Some suggest the solution to off-shore drilling is to abandon the Gulf region altogether and move North to the plentiful Alaska region. Here an estimated 10.4 billion barrels lie beneath the mountainous lands.  However, this oil happens to lie beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and is inhabited by countless endangered species. The land is set aside as a refuge that is supposed to provide safety for the region and species that live there. The majority of people who live in this region are in native fishing villages. There are little roads, no industrialism, and little electricity. Expanding a large oil refinery to this region would cost a lot of time and money.

                Off-shore drilling has been a national debate topic for years. However, the topic has been in the spotlight since the Deepwater Horizon spill.  During the 2008 presidential election, the two parties took opposing views on the matter. The Republican Party led by John McCain and Sarah Palin adopted the war cry of “drill, baby drill!” President Obama was opposed to opening new waters to off-shore drilling and instead supported regulating the existing Gulf Coast oil rigs. However, just weeks prior to the spill, President Obama announced he would open more areas to drilling. After the spill occurred, the moratorium was put in place and no drilling has taken place in the region since. In the Gallup poll conducted on whether the current moratorium should be kept in place or not, there was a large line between the two parties. The majority of Democrats called for the moratorium to be kept in place while the majority of Republicans believe it should be repealed. However, one writer argues that most of this off-shore approval is coming from landlocked states that have nothing to lose. Most coastal states are against drilling as it is their tourism and fishing industries that are at risk.

                The debate on off-shore drilling will likely not be resolved anytime soon, however, as fuel prices continue to rise in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon spill national attention will continue to monitor the subject. The moratorium on Gulf Coast drilling is set to expire next month, although lawmakers are pushing to end the ban even earlier. Off-shore drilling comes with many economical and environmental risks; however, it could be the answer to our suffering job market and end dependence on Middle East energy. For those that don’t like to take risks, they believe the money we would invest in searching for oil and constructing new rigs should be applied towards alternative fuels, though this technology could be years away. For now, the American public can only wait to see what lawmakers and politicians decide is more important: the economy or the environment.