What effects does offshore drilling have on the environment?

What effects does offshore drilling have on the environment?

Environmental Risks Expanded offshore drilling poses the risk of oil spills ruining our beaches from Florida to Maine and along the Pacific Coast, bringing harm to those who live, work, and vacation along the coasts, as well as harming habitats critical to plants and animals.

What are the dangers of oil drilling?

Safety Hazards Associated with Oil and Gas Extraction Activities

• Vehicle Collisions.
• Struck-By/ Caught-In/ Caught-Between.
• Explosions and Fires.
• Falls.
• Confined Spaces.
• Ergonomic Hazards.
• High Pressure Lines and Equipment.
• Electrical and Other Hazardous Energy.

How does offshore drilling negatively affect the economy?

An offshore drilling ban cuts domestic energy production, raises energy costs, and shrinks the nation’s economic pie. The broadest measure of economic activity, gross domestic product (GDP), drops $5.5 trillion over the period 2011–2035. Employment levels fall below those projected to occur without a ban in place.

What are the benefits of offshore drilling?

List of the Pros of Offshore Drilling

• It provides more domestic self-sufficiency for natural resources.
• It can reduce the costs of oil-related products for consumers.
• It creates jobs at the local level.
• It helps to develop the developing world.
• It can support retirement and investment accounts.

Is offshore drilling illegal?

After the 1969 Santa Barbara spill, California blocked all new offshore oil drilling in state waters, protecting our coastal waters up to three miles from the shore. No new offshore drilling has been allowed in federal waters along the Pacific Coast since 1984.

Is offshore drilling good or bad?

Offshore Drilling Is Bad for the Environment. This poses an unjustifiable risk to the Bay, our coasts, and the economy. Toxic Pollution: Normal offshore drilling operations release toxic pollution into the air and water. A Risk to Animals: Wherever there are oil spills and excess pollutants, wildlife is risk.

Why drilling in Alaska is bad?

There are as many reasons that drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a bad idea as there are caribou that call it home. Drilling in the refuge would damage the habitat of the wolves, muskoxen, arctic foxes, wolverines, brown bears, golden eagles, tundra swans and snowy owls that call it home.

Why is offshore drilling bad for the environment?

Opening new areas to offshore drilling poses dangerous and unacceptable risks. Offshore drilling for oil and gas threatens marine life, and pollution from burning fossil fuels is the leading cause of climate change and ocean acidification. Oceana is working to prevent the expansion of offshore drilling in the United States.

Why is Oceana working to stop offshore drilling?

Oceana is working to prevent the expansion of offshore drilling in the United States. We must stop expanding oil drilling operations into new areas. Coastal economies depend on oil-free beaches; and clean, renewable sources of energy like offshore wind would provide far more jobs than oil drilling.

How are oil spills bad for the environment?

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.

What is the safety record of offshore drilling?

Not so fast, say supporters of offshore drilling: Improvements in technology and better government oversight have made drilling inherently safe. In fact, since 1975, offshore drilling has had a 99.999 percent safety record [source: EIA ]. The amount spilled has decreased from 3.6 million barrels in the 1970s to less than 500,000 in the ’90s.

What are the disadvantages of offshore drilling?

Offshore Drilling disadvantages. Offshore Drilling can be dangerous to the environment, As numerous oil spills and offshore drilling accidents have shown, It causes a lot of damage to the environment, The oil sits on top of the water and it suffocates the sea life that it encounters.

Why are people against offshore drilling?

Another reason for the danger is the harsh offshore environments that pose engineering challenges to offshore drilling equipment. Severe weather, ice and storms pose risks to the functionality of the rigs, and their distance from land make it harder for additional rescue personnel to promptly reach the areas in emergency situations.

Is offshore oil drilling worth the risks?

New offshore oil drilling is not worth the risk to the existing economy that relies on a clean coast Offshore drilling threatens the continued prosperity of coastal communities and states whose economies are inextricably linked to clean, oil-free beaches and shorelines.

Why is drilling for oil so dangerous?

One reason for this increased danger is the complex equipment needed to drill at such depths. As offshore drilling continues to be pushed to new depths, with oil companies continuously drilling in deeper waters and penetrating further underground, the technology needed to achieve these feats is extremely complex and not entirely invincible.