Group 6Mary C. Laura F.Ashley H. Caitlyn B.

When will we run out?

U.S peaked @ oil production in 1971, as the rest of the world peaks and then declines we will see rising gas prices, the end of globalization, widespread anarchy and the relentless exploitation of previously protected drilling sites

Between 2011 and 2020 the oil production will not be able to match the world’s needs = higher gas prices, alternate energy

Increase drilling in Alaskan wilderness?

Question of whether to drill in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) an ongoing political controversy since 1977 19 million acres of N. Alaskan coast

Used by both parties as a political device

Created under Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 Issue of drilling deferred in Section 1002 of the

Act

Issues

Amount of economically recoverable oil as it relates to world oil markets

Harm oil exploration would have upon natural wildlife

Support/Opposition

Supporters: George W. Bush, Sarah Palin

Keep America’s economy growing, jobs, ensure business, less dependent on foreign sources, little land for actual drilling

Opposes: Barack Obama, John McCain, U.S. Department of Energy, National Resource Defense Committee, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, National Congress of American Indians, Native American Rights Fund

Opposition (cont.)

damage protected national wildlife refuge without creating sufficient oil supplies to meaningfully affect global market price or have a discernible impact on U.S. energy security

U.S. Department of Energy – no large impact on America’s energy, little direct knowledge regarding petroleum geology of ANWR region

Habitat destroyed – caribou

Required network of platforms, pipelines, roads, support facilities and threat of spills will play havoc on wildlife

How is extracting oil dangerous?

Complex equipment needed to drill at such depths

Harsh offshore environment that pose engineering challenges to the equipment – more machines need to be produced to get the oil

Cement platforms effecting flora and fauna

Inexperienced workers do not understand how to operate machines

What properties make oil spills so destructive to ecosystems?

In water – spreads

Evaporation, wind carries

Photo – oxidation – when sunlight transforms the petroleum hydrocarbons into hydroxyl compounds – changes the solubility

Dissolution – low molecule weight hydro carbons are lost from oil to water

Degradation = biodegrading processes influencing fate of petroleum in aquatic environment- includes micro bio degradation, ingestion by plankton, uptake by aquatic invertebrates

Doesn’t matter size of spill, just that it gets worse if not treated