Whitted 3-1

Write a 1 page informative paper presenting both sides of a current scientific gloabl dispute. This
should not be a persuasive paper, it should represent both your opinion and the oposing opinion
equally.
Arctic Drilling: The (Multi) Billion Dollar Decision
When people think Arctic, they picture cold. They picture white. They picture penguins and polar
bears. They picture ice. Thats about it. I know its what came into my head when I heard the word.
Recently though, a few new things came into my mind after I learned a thing or two about what is
really going on there. Over the past few decades, there has been in interest in the arctic regarding a
very important resource-oil.
In the 1960s, America was starting to realize that they did not have enough oil to keep up with the
countries vast demand for it. Therefore, the government allied with Saudi Arabia, and other countries
in the Middle East in order to reach the countries demand. Shortly after though, vast amounts of oil
were discovered in the Prudhoe Bay area. (Yardley, Olsen) Since then, searches and discoveries of oil
in the arctic have sparked great interest in drilling throughout the Arctic lands.
In the Prudhoe Bay area, it is estimated that 27 billion barrels of oil could be produced, which is
more than has been produced there in over forty years. (Yardley, Olsen) This, and additional drilling in
the arctic could do many things, such as boosting the economy, as well as lowering gas prices by
finding new locations to fuel our nations massive energy needs. These new locations have had a slow
start due to restrictions, permits, and mechanical error, costing Shell, one of the leading oil companies,
five billion dollars without any profit. (Helman) If this project is carried out correctly though, Shell
would be covering its losses by plenty.
Financially though, these oil companies could run into some problems that would probably not
occur in other places. At times, drilling must stop in Alaska for up to nine months, which obviously
does not help business. (Helman) Furthermore, arctic drilling is very expensive, especially since much
of the oil in question is yet to be to discovered, and finding it means making it all the more difficult, as
well as piling on to costs.
There are also economic, and green effects of arctic drilling. With more and more oil, this will
save us for a short amount of time, but continue to make us rely on natural resources, rather than
innovating new ways for renewable energy. While some say that domestic oil resources could last us
250 years at our current consumption rate, (Gingrich) others say it would only last three and a half
before going 100 percent foreign energy...(Baker) This is a scenario in which America does not want to
be in, as we do not want to have to rely on other countries. This scenario also involves destroying all
preserved wildlife, parks, and land, one more thing that America would not be interested in.
In the end, there are two roads that can be taken here. One leads to short term investment, a boost
in the economy, cheaper energy, but at the cost of loosing beautiful land and wildlife, and a possible set
back to a path for renewable energy. The other has its sights set a little deeper into the crystal ball.
This road protects land, a boost down the path of renewable energy, but at the cost of current energy
continuing to be more and more expensive, along with higher government spending.
Either way there is a huge, and risk filled decision to be made here by the government as well as
oil companies. We just have to hope that whichever one is chosen is the right one, and will bring
success to our economy, as well as not setting us too far behind for the future.

Works Cited
Baker, Dean. "'Drill Here, Drill Now, Drill Everywhere' and Other Nonsense | Common Dreams."
Common Dreams. Common Dreams, 24 Mar. 2011. Web. 14 Jan. 2013.
Gingrich, Newt. "$2.50 Gallon Gasoline and Energy Independence." Human Events. Human Events, 15
Feb. 2012. Web. 14 Jan. 2013.
Helman, Christopher. "Why Shell Should Just Quit Its Alaska Drilling Fiasco." Forbes. Forbes
Magazine, 03 Jan. 2013. Web. 14 Jan. 2013.
Olsen, William Yardley And Erik. "Arctic Village Is Torn by Plan For Oil Drilling." The New York
Times. The New York Times, 26 Oct. 2011. Web. 14 Jan. 2013.