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Offshore drilling
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Offshore drilling typically refers to the act of extracting resources, primarily oil, in an ocean or lake.
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As with all oil drilling, there has been a certain level of controversy surrounding the issue.
The environmental impacts of offshore drilling are considerable. During the month of July, a bill was passed allowing for offshore drilling in the United States' Gulf of Mexico coastal waters that has been banned since 1981. Each oil rig dumps about 90,000 metric tons of drilling fluid and metal cuttings into the ocean over its lifetime, and each of its 50 to 100 wells (on average) dumps 25,000 tons of toxic metals such as lead, chromium, and mercury into the ocean.[1]
Furthermore, offshore drilling will affect beach tourism, which, according to Representative Jim Davis (D-FL), is more important in the long run than securing more oil.[2]
Advocates of opening coastal waters to offshore drilling advocate that doing so would help make the United States more energy independent. Critics of the bill, however, state that doing so would delay the introduction of alternative fuels, which in the long run, would help the United States become energy independent.[3]
- ^ Committee Against Oil Exploration. Culture Change (2007). Retrieved on March 10, 2007.
- ^ House Votes to End Offshore Drilling Ban. MSNBC (June 30, 2006). Retrieved on March 10, 2007.
- ^ Congress Approves Offshore Drilling Bill. MSNBC (December 10, 2006). Retrieved on March 10, 2007.
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