Sunday, October 27, 2013

A Continued Abuse

Over the past few years, the United States has started pumping oil on our own land, and we haven't slowed down. Every year it seems that more and more states are producing more and more oil, take North Dakota for example, who now pumps over one million barrels a day (MacPherson). Now some think America's boom in oil production is for the better because it loosens our dependency on foreign oil (specifically the Middle East). Believe it or not, we are currently producing more oil than Russia or Saudi Arabia. Even though, oil prices haven't fallen. Greed much? But that isn't the only issue presented.
Let's flash back to 2010. The BP oil spill in the Gulf caused havoc for the wildlife and people living on the southern coast. As a nation, we were disgusted by the event. But the biggest reason why we were upset was because it happened on our home front. Let's be honest, if BP spilled in the Red Sea, I don't think Americans would have given the same reaction. But looking back on it, it doesn't seem like it was such a big shock. With pumping oil and handling it, spills are bound to happen. Now obviously its not usual to see them as big as BP's, but nevertheless it happens. It baffles me that we support American-based drilling when three and a half years ago we faced the very real consequence of it. And it isn't like that was a one time thing. In North Dakota nearly 300 pipeline spills have gone unreported since 2012 (MacPherson), threatening the "land and water supplies" of the people who live there. When will we learn our lesson? With many alternative energy sources popping up left and right, such as wind and solar power, why do we continue to put ourselves through the polluting and harmful effects of homeland drilling? 

Leave your opinion below.

Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/pipeline-spills-north-dakota_n_4170133.html?ref=topbar

Picture: http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/10/10/20600-barrels-fracked-oil-spill-north-dakota-publicity-halted-due-government-shutdown


1 comment:

  1. Sean, great blog post! When you said "Greed much?" It got me thinking, are we really greedy at this point? Or is it just a habit? Oil is something that is such a huge part of our daily lives its hard to just cut out. I think you are right in the sense that we need to cut back. The oil spill was a wake up call. I think we are trying to move forward with the advancement of electric cars but it can't happen overnight.

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