Preview

Oil Drilling Research Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1363 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Oil Drilling Research Paper
Do you remember in 2010 when every news station and every newspaper across the country had a headline about the BP oil spill? Do you think if America would have started converting to another resource such as wind, this would’ve still happened? Are oil and oil based products are taking over the economy? Think about everything you used today that uses or is made with oil such as gas, plastic, ink, and tires. Americans consume petroleum products at a rate of three-and-a-half gallons of oil and more than 250 cubic feet of natural gas per day each! However, oil brings in 331 billion dollars annually to the United States. There are some “go-green” advocates that think we can live without oil and we should move to renewable resources. Renewable energy sources are reputed to be more efficient in positively impacting the environment. Nevertheless, there are …show more content…
In the case of oil drilling we have three sides: drilling in land only, expanding to drilling off shore, and then there is those that say we should slowly stop oil drilling and move to renewable resources such as wind power.
Oil drilling is just the extraction of oil from the earth but doing so there are possibilities of catastrophes. Disruption of wildlife migration routes and habitats from noise pollution, traffic and fences being built, toxic chemicals and dust pollute the air and water, and dangerous methane emissions contribute to climate change are just some things that happen when we drill for oil. These factors occur only during extraction and transportation which is why oppositions to fracking has been considerable in the global green community, and in Europe in particular. France

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Too Frack or Not to Frack

    • 892 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at high pressures in order to release natural gas from shale rocks by fracturing them. It takes an abundance of resources to create just one fracking well. Each gas well needs on average four hundred tanker trucks to carry water and supplies to the site. Fracking uses a great deal of water. Each fracturing job requires one to eight million gallons of water to complete it. Hydraulic fracturing has a huge effect on the environment primarily due to all the harmful chemicals used in the process. Some people don't want to ban fracking because it reduces imports of natural gas to america and it creates jobs, but many of these workers are being injured from working on the fracking site. In addition to poisoning its workers and the environment fracking is actually more expensive than traditional drilling.…

    • 892 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hum-111 Week 2 Assignment

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages

    My view on the subject of looking for more oil by drilling in places that have not been checked before is it is unnecessary. If the companies that put such effort toward blocking attempts to phase in more alternative sources for power put the effort into developing these alternatives sources the world would be much healthier. The oil industry is one of the richest and most powerful industries in the world today and this industry is fighting against the change to cleaner and more environmentally safe energy alternatives. The reason for the oil industry to resist this change is pure greed. The industry stands to lose a great deal of money if the United States government phases out the use of fossil fuels.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    will be, policy must be put in place to ensure the potential damage to local communities is…

    • 3245 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hydraulic Fracturing or fracking was first introduced in 1940s and has then been a key provider of natural gas and oil worldwide. Despite its expansion and customary use, fracking still poses many health and environmental concerns. During fracking, pressurized liquids are injected into drilled wells, which cause the surrounding rock to crack open allowing gas and oil flow through the fissures. Millions of gallons of water are used and a similarly large volume of waste water is generated. Most of the water is never restored and the stored waste water and fracking fluid can adversely affect the animals and vegetation around it. Along with the water, other chemicals are injected into the ground as far as 10,000 feet below the surface and enter groundwater, polluting drinking sources for many. Fracking may be a key provider of oil but this expensive, polluting, low energy-return process is not worth the loss of wildlife habitat, natural land and innumerable water resources.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One may assume that along with more fracking sites means that the statistics of fires, explosions, and issues with wells, accidents, and more may keep rising. Several incidents have included “increase in documented spills, blowouts, leaking wells, and other accidents” (nofrackohio.com). These errors have likely affected the environment and can be almost directly related to severe human injuries.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking, has been a hot topic of debate in the United States of America since its inception in 1947 and first well drill in 1949. The United States was the first country to perform hydraulic fracturing to tap into a previously unavailable resource, natural gases deep underground in very small micro veins that spider web across a large area. The concerns are, and have included, most importantly health concerns and tax revenues. Controversy and a big difference between the local citizens and the oil companies has brought this topic to a heated debate. Citizens become increasingly concerned about health issues and damaged environments. Therefore discussing these subjects is becoming increasingly difficult.…

    • 2231 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fracking in North Texas

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Ever wonder why earthquakes are caused? Why does water in certain areas smell or taste like a chemical gas? The most likely reason for both of these effects is fracking. Hydraulic fracturing, as known as fracking, is the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas inside (Dong). According to many recent research studies fracking is very harmful to the environment and shouldn’t be done here in Coppell, but how so?…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It's a Fracking Problem

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Fracking is increasing in the U.S., but with this increase of natural gas comes an increase of safety concerns. The process of hydraulic fracking requires chemicals that can affect the families that live nearby. These chemicals also affect the environment on the land and in the air. With fracking there comes its positives and its negatives, some good and some bad. There are very few regulations on how fracking can be done, but in the regulations there isn't much help. Fracking for natural gas needs to be further regulated before it can continue.…

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Fracking Pros And Cons

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hydraulic fracking for some is a dream come true. For others, it is a nightmare. The act of extracting oil and natural gas from shale rock layers from within the earth has environmentalists pulling out their hair and politicians jumping for joy. The contamination of groundwater, air and land is constantly being brought up in debates. The government on the other hand argues that it only causes minimal harm and the benefits, like job creation and individual wealth, far out way the cost.…

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hydraulic Fracking

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Petroleum, natural gas, oil…do we really need them? These products power so many things today that humankind “depends” on. Machines in factories, automobiles, and an abundance of other electronics are fueled by the result of hydraulic fracking. Hydraulic fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is used among companies that drill underground for oil and natural gas. The drillers inject millions of gallons of water, sand, salts and chemicals—some being very toxic to humans—into rock formations at extremely high pressure. This fractures the rock and extracts the fuel from underground, giving the companies what they need without harming themselves in any way. Hydraulic fracking is undoubtedly one of the most controversial topics that environmentalists discuss. Researchers are uncovering what companies have hidden, just how dangerous is this process? Three factors that are being looked into are: how does this oil extracting technique affect people around the drills, what are the positives and the negatives of the fracking, and what is being done by people and companies to stop hydraulic fracking or make is safer.…

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    An article by Stephen L. Baird titled Offshore Oil Drilling: Buying Energy Independence or Buying Time? Looks at both sides of the issue. Baird cites several polls that show growing support for offshore drilling, and that energy exploration is more important than conservation. Baird states that America imports…

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Fracking" Reflection

    • 973 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In recent times, hydraulic fracturing, “fracking” has been questioned as to its positive affects in the American society. Instead of purchasing natural resources from other countries, America wanted to produce their own natural resources, thus, the term fracturing came into existence. With this in mind, jobs are created, cleaner gas is in the ozone, money is saved for the countries overall expenses, but the process behind to reach that goal consist of risks that can become a threat to water supply, food supply, and the environment as a whole. If certain protocol and procedures aren’t put in place “fracking” can very well be a negative aspect towards energy conservation for America’s businesses, government, and society.…

    • 973 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fracking

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages

    With the rising global energy demand, shale gas has been considered as the next big thing for energy producers. Fracking is a technology use to extract that natural gas stored deep underground. Although fracking can collect plenty of natural gases, it has left a number of very serious impacts both on the environment and human health. Air pollution, water contamination and threaten human health are the consequences caused by fracking.…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oil Drilling in Alaska

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There is believed to be between 5.7 and 16 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil in Alaska. The only thing holding us back from drilling there because it would damage a protected national wildlife refuge in the act killing many animals. The controversy of whether to drill there or not has been going on since around 1977. The last two presidents we had were on different sides of how they felt about the drilling. There are many positives to drilling in Alaska but for every positive there is also a negative. For whether a person is for or against drilling is strongly based on how strongly they feel the importance of every effect of the drilling.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Offshore Oil Drilling

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages

    On April 20th, 2010, an oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, approximately 4.9 billion barrels of oil poured into the gulf over the course of 87 days. This tragedy resulted in lives lost, both human and animal alike, and really brought the issue of off-shore oil drilling to attention. While some may believe that offshore oil drilling may seem like a harmless source of revenue for the United States, it is imperative that citizens realize that drilling does more harm than good. America needs to consider the negative effects of offshore oil drilling on the environment, the economy, and the future.…

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays