Inching Toward Energy Independence
By: Clifford Krauss and Eric Lipton
March 22nd 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/business/energy-environment/inching-toward-energy-independence-in-america.html?pagewanted=all
This article is about the U.S. removing our oil needs from other countries and starting to create our own supply. If this is the case then we might be able to remove our troops out of the Middle East because we will not have to protect our oil. For years our consumption rose and our production fell and now its starting to turn around. People are buying more fuel efficient cars and are not purchasing as much oil due to the bad economy. Oil rigs are producing oil in Texas, The Gulf of Mexico, and the parries of North Dakota. The change in oil production will change the way our country looks at foreign policy. No longer will our country have to bargain for oil where as it could be drilled in America. I believe we could start to make a profit off of it by selling it to other countries. That will really help our economy out. Still the price of oil will not just be affected by our countries production, other countries will still affect the price so we have to keep an eye on that. Some con's of drilling oil in our country could be the risk of an oil spill. We all remember the BP spill and also the Exon Valdez incident. That could really harm the environment and it wont be affecting the Middle East, it will hit us at home. We are still cleaning up from both tragedies. This surge is hardly without consequences. Some areas of intense
drilling activity, including northeastern Utah and central Wyoming, have
experienced air quality problems. The drilling technique called
hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, (Which we learned in class)-which uses highly pressurized water,
sand and chemical lubricants that help force more oil and gas from rock
formations, has also been blamed for wastewater problems.My opinion on this highly controversial topic is that we should start drilling in America. The resaon i believe this is because we are relying to much on the Middle East and allot of our country's money is going there. But there are also some con's that I don't think we should drill in America for. I think if there happens to be a spill our environment will be heavily affected by it and I don't want to see our country cleaning up a very expensive oil spill. Also the air pollution that is associated with drilling and fracking could really harm our environment and it could cause allot more problems with the "Global Warming" issues. But all in all my opinion is we should start fully drilling in America. It helps our economy, and promotes jobs for the hard-working American.
Questions:
1.) What are your thoughts about drilling in the United States? Should it be allowed?
2.) What are some other environmental impacts drilling creates?
3.) Should America turn to natural gasses instead of oil?
4.) Is fracking a better alternative to oil drilling?
5.) If an oil spill does occur how should we clean it up?
By: Benjamin Kron
