Offshore Drilling 1

The Safety of Offshore Drilling

Justin Twigg
HUEN 122
Professor R. Midcalf
October 6, 2008







Offshore Drilling 2

The Safety of Offshore Drilling
The energy crisis in America worsens every day. America needs to find a way to solve
the problem, but how can the energy crisis be solved? One way America can lessen the intensity
of the problem is by drilling for oil off the American coast line. The topic of offshore drilling has
been popular among politicians and American citizens for many years. America must start the
process of offshore drilling in order to help solve the energy crisis. Environmentalists say
offshore drilling is unsafe, but is it? Offshore drilling is environmentally safe.
Offshore drilling is the process of extracting underground oil from resources located
underwater near the shoreline (Offshore Drilling). The idea of offshore drilling first came about
in the nineteenth century in Baku (Offshore Drilling). The first account of offshore drilling in
America took place off the California coast in 1896 (Offshore Drilling). Currently, over 1,000
square miles off the US coast is unavailable to offshore drilling because of bans placed on the
areas by US government and state governments (Fontova, 2008). These areas, located on the
outer continental shelf, contain an estimated 115 billion barrels of oil and 633 trillion cubic feet
of natural gas (Fontova).
Offshore drilling is not harmful to plant life. Offshore drilling is called unsafe by
environmentalists who say that offshore drilling is harmful to plant life and marine wildlife. Off
the Louisiana-Texas border lie the Flower Garden coral reefs (Fontova, 2008). These reefs are
surrounded by dozens of offshore production platforms, unlike the reefs located off the Florida
Keys which have no platforms (Fontova). The oil platforms in the Flower Garden coral reefs
have been pumping for the last 50 years, yet G.P. Schamahl, a federal biologist who has worked
in both the Flower Gardens and the Florida Keys, said, The Flower Gardens are much healthier,
more pristine than anything in the Florida Keys (Fontova). If offshore production platforms
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were harmful to plant life, then the Florida Keys would be healthier than the Flower Gardens, not
vice versa. According to Steve Gittings, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations
science coordinator for marine sanctuaries, The amount of area taken up by coral is a key to the
measure of the health of a coral reef. In the Florida Keys, the cover can be as little as 5% while
in the Flower Gardens, the cover is nearly 50% (Fontova). Offshore drilling is environmentally
safe not only because it does not affect plant life in a negative way, but also because no major oil
spills have occurred as a result of offshore drilling.
No major oil spills have resulted from offshore drilling. Although Louisiana produces
25% of Americas domestic oil, no oil spill has ever occurred off its coast (Fontova, 2008).
Florida, which prohibits offshore drilling, had an oil spill occure off the coast of its panhandle in
1976 (Fontova). This oil spill, however, was the result of the transportation of oil, not the
extraction (Oil Spills). Another oil spill, off the coast of Alaska, happened in 1989. This oil spill
was also the result of the transportation of oil, not the extraction (Oil Spills). If America
continues to ban offshore drilling, it will still be transporting oil from overseas. If America does
not drill for oil offshore, the risk of an oil spill will still be imminent. The risk of an oil spill will
be around regardless of whether or not America drills in the ocean for oil. Offshore drilling does
not only positively affect plant life and produces no oil spills, but also positively affects marine
wildlife.
Offshore drilling does not have a negative effect on marine wildlife. Louisiana, which
produces 30% of Americas commercial fisheries, has rich and prolific coastal waters
(Fontova, 2008). The only state that produces more sea food than Louisiana is Alaska, which is
ten times the size of Louisiana (Fontova). Of the 3,700 offshore production platforms located in
the Gulf of Mexico, 3,200 are in the coastal waters of Louisiana (Fontova). If offshore drilling is
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detrimental to marine wildlife, why is Louisiana still able to produce such a large amount of
seafood? Louisiana State Universitys Sea Grant College performed a study that shows that 85%
of fishing trips in Louisiana involve fishing in the area of these offshore production platforms
(Fontova). The study also shows that 50 times more marine wildlife is located around these
platforms than are in the Gulf bottoms (Fontova). If offshore drilling is harmful to marine
wildlife, fishing trips would not be in the area of these offshore production platforms. If marine
wildlife is suffering because of offshore drilling, 50 times more marine wildlife would not be
located around these platforms than in the Gulf bottoms. Offshore drilling does not affect plant
life in a negative way. If anything, marine wildlife is boosted because of the presence of these
platforms.
Offshore drilling is not a danger to the environment. Environmentalists say America
should not make the process of offshore drilling legal because of its danger to the environment.
As we have seen, offshore drilling has helped the environment. Offshore drilling has boosted
marine wildlife, never had a major oil spill, and helped plant life to blossom. If offshore drilling
was detrimental to the environment, we would have seen a decrease in marine wildlife and plant
life off the Louisiana coast. Offshore drilling is safe for the environment.

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References

Fontova, H. (2008, June 11) Humberto Fontova: The benefits of offshore drilling. Retrieved
September 20, 2008, from http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/
Viewpoints/stories/DN-fontova_11edi.ART.state.edition1.460b04d.html
Offshore drilling. Retrieved September 20, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offshore_
Drilling
Oil spills. Retrieved on September 25, 2008, from http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/oil_
Spills.htm