It is known to many people that oil companies have been sucking oil out of the ground in the arctic for decades now. Yet, all that drilling so far has been done on solid land, not over open water. Well, all that is about to change as President Obama has approved permits to oil companies to start drilling test wells and eventually start pumping oil out of the seabed. It seems that the likely recipient of the majority of these permits will be Royal Dutch Shell, the oil company with the longest history in the region. After years of trying to convince the local natives in the area that offshore drilling would be beneficial to them, it seems like the oil companies have finally struck the right cord. Both parties have agreed to various different compromises that would hopefully satisfy everyone involved. The biggest issue that the natives have is with the potential disruption to the wildlife in the area, particularly the whales and other seafaring creatures that they hunt during the summer months. The hunt for whales and other animals is part of the culture and lifeblood of the natives in the area. They have been hunting for generations and largely depend upon the food for their well being. To have any sort of disruption, whether it be noise that scares them away or an oil spill which could kill them off or send them elsewhere, would be catastrophic to the local population. As I mentioned, though, compromises are being reached that will hopefully accommodate the natives fully. So is all this drilling really worth it? Will the amount of oil we suck out of the ground make that much of a difference? According to some, it will. Yet I have my doubts.
There are a couple of major reasons why some, especially those in the oil industry, want drilling to proceed. Perhaps the most obvious reason is the potential profits to be reaped by the oil companies themselves. They may claim to have the country's best interest at hand when making these decisions, yet they wouldn't be pushing this hard to drill if they weren't going to fill their coffers with a tremendous amount of money. As it stands, Shell has spent an ever increasing amount of money on lobbying efforts in Washington over the past decade or so. Last year was the highest at about $14 million dollars. The previous years were nothing to laugh about either with amounts spent on lobbying never falling below $8 million dollars. With that much money invested in trying to crack open off shore drilling in the Arctic, how could they stop until they succeeded and had a chance to recoup that money and fill their pockets even more? I know I wouldn't if I was in their shoes. But that is merely one part of the equation. Another reason there is this enormous push for off shore drilling in the arctic is to try and make our country energy independent. Lets think about this though. We all know that there is a limited supply of crude oil in the world and that regardless of how many more wells we drill, production will start to decline in at least another 50 years. Energy independence to me means that we don't have to rely on foreign sources of oil or anything else ever again. So how does this all compute? To me it doesn't. Demand in the United States for oil is not declining by any means; if anything it is growing along with our population. Adding new oil from the off shore drilling in the North Slope area will only satiate demand for maybe 20 years if that. To me, that is not energy independence, rather a vain attempt by oil companies to reap as much profits as possible before the world's oil runs dry.
Now imagine if Shell had taken the close to $50 million dollars it has invested in lobbying over the past 5 years and invested it in renewable sources of energy? First off, they would be breaking new ground and creating a new source of income for themselves once the oil runs dry. Second, it could truly push us towards energy independence as renewable energy sources will not run dry, will not harm the environment as much as oil could, and will create long term sustainable jobs. At this point, there is nothing we can do about preventing the drilling from occurring, but what we could attempt to do is enforce strict guidelines and procedures that the oil companies must follow to keep the environment safe and the local natives source of food safe. Energy independence to me can not come from new sources of oil because they will run dry along with all the present sources of oil. The North Slope has been actively drilled on land for decades and has supplied our nation with about 1/5th of its oil. Yet on shore supplies are declining and less and less is making it through the Trans Alaskan pipeline. Yet one more reason for new drilling to commence; keep the oil flowing and the pipeline functioning. I could go on, but I won't. I will merely end here and go enjoy myself in nature for the weekend. Till next week, may the sun shine upon your face and the wind be always at your back (I don't know why I wrote that, I just felt it was a good ending.)
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