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World Issues
U. S. Enemy Policy Needs Revision
. .. .. .. . r„«,r„„rd.U.S. There are reasons for why the months. This isn't worth riskins
by Mary Stuart Brugh
Did you know that the United
States is the largest per capita user
of energy in the the world? Each
day, on average, every man, woman
and child uses more than 230 cubic
feet of natural gas, 3 gallons of oil,
17 pounds of coal, and more than 6
kilowatt hours of nuclear powered
and water-powered electricity.
Seventy percent of this energy is
crude oil and natural gas, and most
of our oil and natural gas that we
use in the U.S. comes from the
Middle East and North Africa.
Also, in the past eight years, the
federal government has slashed
funding for energy conservation and
research by 75%. By accelerating
offshore development, the federal
government has reduced fuel
efficiency standards for cars,
wasting 5 to 9 billion gallons of
gasoline in a three year period from
1985 to 1989.
We must ask ourselves - do we
really want to rely on foreign oil, or
do we want to drill of the coast of
the U.S.? In this article I hope to
give both sides to the issue of
offshore drilling and give more
facts about the actual offshore
drilling process.
Offshore drilling operations
began in U.S. about 80 years ago off
the coast of California. Since then
the demand for natural gas and oil
has increased; therefore, more land
resources are needed. But first, it's
important to talk about the drilling
process.
The process of drilling is not
cheap or easy. There are many
steps involved. First, before a
company such as Exxon, or Mobil can
drill on government owned waters,
a lease must be acquired through
competitive bidding at "lease
sales." Usually these leases extend
for five years. If an area is
successful with oil and natural gas
quanities then the lease last an
indefinite amount of time.
Secondly, a company must have
federal and state permits in order
to drill.
Before drilling, there is an
exploration plan issued which
should include: proposed type and
sequence of exploration activities,
discriptive point of drilling vessel
and platforms, type of
geo-physical equipment used,
location, oil spill contingency plan
and air quality analysis.
All offshore drilling operations
are monitored by the government
agencies, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, the
E.P.A., Department of Interior, and
adjourn coastal states have
authority to -protect the
environment by exercising federal
and state regulatory powers over
OCS operations before operations
begin. As you can see, a close eye is
kept on these drilling sight and it's
no wonder they're big enough.
The two common structures used
for the drilling process are
complaint and fixed leg structures.
Also, there is drilling off of ships
in deep waters called ship
platforms. The complaint
structures are designed for limited
movement in response to wind,
waves, and currents rather than
resist them. It bends much like a
palm tree in high winds. This
structure is capable of being
installed for 6,000 to 8,000 foot
water depths. The fixed leg
structure uses its weight and
structural rigidity to resist wind
and water forces. This can be
installed up to 1,500 depths of
water. These structures weigh
thousands of tons and costs are
incredible. An entire project
including lease acquisition,
fabrication and installation of
platforms, drilling and completion
of wells and pipeline systems cost
around 800 million dollars. In no
way is this a cheap process yet the
government seems to keep allowing
offshore drilling.
Another important aspect is how
is the oil brought ashore? The most
common way domestic oil is brought
to the U.S. is through underwater
pipelines. Also, tankers carry oil
ashore. Two-thirds of the oil
supply is carried to the U.S. on
tankers and are known for polluting
much of the waters.
Americans worry that if there is
more exploration then there will be
further damage? The
environmentalist believe much
pollution will exist in the water,
the air, and the land. Pro-viewers
of offshore drilling feel that the
damages will be few if precautions
and care is given to each sight.
To begin, I would like to tackle
the issue over domestic and foreign
oil. Did you know that 1.9 billion
barrels of oil are imported to the
U.S. each year and 2/3 of what we
use comes from the Middle East and
North Africa? These countries are
unstable, radical regimes who
probably care only about their
welfare and not ours. Do we really
want our oil coming from these
unstable countries?
There are reasons for why the
U.S. is dependent on these countries
for oil supply. Two of these reasons
are political and military. These
countries could easily cut off qur
flow of oil if these were to be
problems between our government
and foreign government; likewise,
if military aid from the U.S. is cut
off to these countries, our oil supply
might get cut off. We would see the
price of oil and gas rise like we saw
in the '70's. These foreign countries
that supply us with oil and natural
gas control our flow of economy.
Next, I want to discuss the issues
over oil spills which is a concern to
many of us. No one wants an oil
spill nor can we predict when they
might happen. But unfortunately
they do occur. Environmentalists
believe that large oil spills can't be
controlled or cleaned up in the
marine environment especially in
heavy seas, ice and darkness.
Secondly, the rate of oil travel in
the waters is unpredictable.
Thirdly, the state of the art clean
up equipment is inadequate even in
close proximity. Spills don't
disappear, toxic effects persist over
long periods of time. Some
organisms don't recover for more
than 10 years and coral reefs suffer
permanent damage. Proponets
argue that hazards would be
limited if drilling didn't occur in
such "sensitive" areas. Also, major
oil spills occur from tankers which
are more common with importing
oil because domestically we use
pipeline systems which are more
efficient and safe. There is less
chance of an oil spill occuring in a
pipeline system.
Environmentalists argue that the
amount of oil and natural gas
suspected of being underground
would only supply the U.S. for 4
months. This isn't worth risking
environmental damage for such a
small amount of energy supply to
our nation.
Greenpeace states that the air
quality, water quality and
commercial fishing is effected. The
water quality during and after the
drilling process contains toxic
materials, heavy metals and radio
active material. The air quality is
stated as a "major health threat."
The amount of air pollution from
one well being dug is equal to cars
driving 50 mph every day. Also,
the commercial fishing industry
finds substancial loses to fish and
productivity. The controversy over
whether drilling platforms act as
reefs for fish is unclear. Some say
platforms do and that they attract
fish and see an increase in fish
productivity. Opposing are
Environmentalist, who state there
is no indication of biomass. The rigs
function as aggregators which just
makes fish easier to catch. Not
enough is known about the real
consequences both good and bad of
offshore drilling, therefore it's
difficult getting a good
understanding of the drilling
process. Alternatives need to be
made.
An energy policy based on
conservation and clean renewable
alternatives is the only realistic
and responsible answer to our
energy delemma. Our nation needs
to prepare for one end of fossile
fuels. Issues concerning energy
conservation must be brought to the
nation's attention. Energy sources
such as wind, solar, and nuclear
power need further examination for
our nations future stability. There
are other energy resources out there
but we just don't know enough about
them yet!
Earth Notes
by Tricia Forbes
Get ready Salem, because Earth
Day 1990 is coming up on April 22,
and the members of Salem ECO
(Environmental Concerns
Organization) are planning lots of
fun and educational activities for
Earth Week, which is April 16-22.
Each day will be devoted to a
different theme devised to inform
people of the planet's most pressing
environmental problems and to
offer solutions. The Salemite has
offered us extra space for the next
issue, and we will have several
articles written by both students
and concerned professors, as well as
an article written by the man who
founded the first Earth Day in
1970.
ECO has made several successful
trips to our recycling center, and we
would like to thank everyone who
has helped. Keep it up! I would
also like to stress once again that
we welcome any student to become a
member of ECO. All you have to do
is come to a meeting. We really
need more participation if we are to
accomplish everything we want to.
If you have any questions about
ECO, please call Kristen Miller at
723-4009.