283). This led to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). This Act acknowledged the fact that there was a lack of knowledge about the ocean ecosystem. This was an important insight and "At its core, NEPA requires federal agencies to produce an environmental impact statement (EIS) whenever they propose a major federal action" but " it was unclear from the original language of the statute whether the lease of oil exploration rights was covered" (Rothbach, 2007, p. 283). However, in 1978 Congress amended this Act with regard to the current state of the law governing the leasing of offshore oil exploration rights. The 1978 amendments "…specifically state that if a plan for development and exploration of offshore oil resources is a major federal action, then an EIS must be produced" (Rothbach, 2007, p. 283). These events were to contribute to the growing concern about the environmental impact of offshore oil exploration
It is also significant to note other events in the past that indicates the negative consequences of offshore oil exploration. Kaplan (1982) refers to the leasing for oil and gas off Santa Barbara in 1967. It was felt that a moratorium on this lease was needed as, "…oil spill containment and cleanup technology was still primitive, and the abundant populations of birds, marine mammals, and fish could be at considerable risk" (Kaplan, 1982, p. 4).
This has led to a history of environmental and other objections to offshore explorations. It is perhaps appropriate to reiterate the central aspects of this debate at this point. The controversy about offshore oil can be summarized as follows. There is dissension in the first place about the value of offshore drilling in terms of both the environment and the economic outcomes. Those who advocate greater access to oil exploration are of the opinion that this would reduce oil and gas prices, as well as reducing dependence on overseas oil. They also assert that this will have only as minimal impact on the environment.
On the other side of the debate are those who advocate the view that greater oil exploration off the coast will have little if any impact on the price of oil and, more importantly, it would have extreme and negative consequences on the environment. There are also other dimensions to this debate, which include accusations of vested interest from both sides.
In essence this leads to the central theme and thesis of this paper -- that the international community faces an extremely serious environmental challenge as a result of continued offshore oil drilling. An example of the consequences to the environment of offshore oil drilling is as follows:
Whenever oil is recovered from the ocean floor, other chemicals and toxic substances come up too -- things like mercury, lead and arsenic that are often released back into the ocean. In addition, seismic waves used to locate oil can harm sea mammals and disorient whales. ExxonMobil recently had to suspend exploration efforts near Madagascar after more than 100 whales beached themselves.
(Horton)
Boesch et al. ( 1987) distinguish ten categories of potential long-term environmental effects of offshore oil and gas development activities these include;
chronic biological effects resulting from the persistence of medium and high molecular weight aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclics and their degradation products in sediments and cold environments;
the residual damage from oil spills to biogenically structured communities;
effects of physical fouling by oil of aggregations of birds, mammals and turtles;
effects of produced water discharges into nearshore rather than open shelf environments;
effects of noise and other physical disturbances on populations of birds, mammals and turtles;
effects of artificial islands and causeways & #8230; on benthos and anadromous fish species. (Boesch et al., 1987, p. 3)
There is also research that indicates that the transporting of oil poses possible threats that may in fact be greater than the threat to the environment from the actual drilling; for example one study found that, "In Louisiana, the 10,000 miles of canals dug to transport oil and lay pipelines contribute to coastal erosion because the canals crisscross the state's coastal wetlands" (Connors, 2009).
The literature on this topic provides some valuable studies on the actual impact...
If Nigerian local content law is not complied with Requires licensee to submit a detailed programme for recruitment and training of Nigerians (Nigerian Local Content Policy) 2.3. History of the LCL The Local Content Law was signed into law in April 2010 by acting President Goodluck Jonathan. In brief, the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Local Content Development Bill 2010 places "…obligations on upstream oil companies in the areas of finance, community
While oil is a valuable resource, Like... The river it is also a curse. Its flow is inconstant. In drought years, the supply of water falls; in other years, floods can take their toll, leaving death and destruction in their wake. It can become polluted, causing both health and economic problems for its users. Davis J.) The above analogy highlights some of the essential features of the modern oil industry and the
Offshore Wind Energy Wind Energy (Facts and Features, Usage, Future Prospects, Strengths and Weaknesses, Recommendations) It is an undeniable fact that human activity needs energy as a basic requirement. Energy input is a fundamental need for transportation, water and food provision and mobility services. In the contemporary energy system, non-renewable fossil fuels are the principal resources that satisfy the global energy needs. They are preferred due to their dependability and low-cost. On the
BP Oil Disaster Impact and Lessons Learned On April 20, 2010, the BP Deepwater Horizon spill dumped more than 4.1 million barrels of crude into the Gulf region over 87 days (Walsh et al., On the Edge). The oil and gas industry developed new technologies in pursuit of valuable energy supplies, venturing into deeper waters farther from the coastline (National Commission, 85). Regulators, however, failed to keep up with the industrial
Marathon Oil Course Number & Name: Relationship between retail price of gasoline and price of crude oil In USA gasoline accounts for 50% consumption of petroleum products therefore it is closely monitored by public and research pundits. It is found that, there is asymmetric relationship (asymmetric defined: where one has much more power than the other or putting it differently, when two halves are not equal or same) between retail gasoline prices and
Americans today think about the problems of getting the oil that is needed to run our economy through the rest of this century, they will no doubt find themselves thinking either about drilling for oil in Alaska - since this topic has been so much in the news over the past several months - or establishing peace in the Middle East so that oil may continue to flow from
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now