Impact of Oil Spills on Environment Essay

Final Paper On April 20, 2010, an oil spill on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon took place. To date, the oil spill is the largest in history, and was caused by a multitude of factors. In February 2009, British Petroleum (BP), proposed a plan to drill in the Macondo well to the Minerals Management Service (MMS). The Macondo well is off the coast of Louisiana, in the Gulf of Mexico (http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/161185/). BP was looking to expand their oil drilling, which was the…

Argument Essay: Saving Oceans Six years ago the Deepwater Horizon oil spill released “210 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico…killing 4,768 animals” (Jarvis). This Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused a lot of harm to our sea life and greatly damaged ecosystems. Oil floated to the surface and washed up on shorelines as it covered beaches for miles along the coastline. Organizations joined together to help begin the process of rescuing and rehabilitating animals that suffered from…

carbon sink, protects the endangered animals within it, and contains bodies of water that are unspoiled by pollution. Unfortunately, beneath the flourish of life was the dark discovery of tar sands. Tar, or oil sands are composed of sand, water, clay, and bitumen- a thick, dark, and heavy oil. Because of its viscosity, bitumen needs to be lightened with a mixture of hydrocarbons to transport it through pipes. The mining of bitumen began in 1719 when it was first discovered, and small extractions…

Although some may say that offshore oil drilling is worth the mass amount of environmental destruction, it is actually true that the costs deeply outweigh the benefits, because while oil production may slightly help the country’s economy, it damages the planet we live on, resulting in the death of marine life, climate change, and a lowered quality of life due to oil related health complications. When a proponent for offshore drilling looks at an offshore drilling rig, they only see money, when…

pollution has developed into a relevant issue. Some of these issues include oil spills, chemical pollution, and waste pollution. This advertisement is meant to address the issues of marine pollution by showing the results and addressing two exceptionally prominent issues during the past few years, oil spills, and waste pollution. In the past 20 years, there have been roughly 17 oil spills, the most memorable spill is the BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast. In addition to this a well-known cause of…

Pipeline running through it: wilted and discolored leaves, sick wildlife, and streams smothered in black oil. There was an article published, arguing that the pipeline should be built because it is the safest way to move tar sands oil, does not affect the environment and climate, and creates effective jobs. However, the Keystone XL Pipeline is actually a dangerous way to move oil, affects the environment negatively, and does not create effective jobs. In the article, one of the reasons the…

carry 570,000 barrels of crude oil per day from two oil sites, Bakken and Three Forks, to an oil tank farm near Patoka, Illinois. Though the pipeline brought in many jobs during the construction, it requires only a handful of individuals to maintain. The decisions made by Energy Transfer Partners were a result of careful planning and (mostly) consideration for others. The company used safe…

“Oil currently accounts for 37 percent of U.S. energy use — more than any other fuel source — and 94 percent of transportation fuel” (Primary Energy Consumption by Source and Sector, 2010). With more than one third of the nation’s energy being produced by oil, it would be ridiculous to want to limit or reduce the means by which it is extracted right? The issue concerning offshore drilling and its limitations has become an ongoing debate, causing two major sides, with opposing opinions to form.…

regarding the impacts of the NGP on the political, economic, and environmental framework of Canada. Given the complexity of the affects of the NGP, the scope of this paper will be limited to examining environmental and economic implications that the NGP will have on Canada. This paper argues that although the NGP offers Canada short-term economic benefits, the project is not guaranteed to be beneficial for the Canadian economy and is not sustainable for the environment unless environmental…

This resulted in 3 million gallons of oil that leaked 5 miles out into the Pacific Ocean. Lasting approximately a week, the oil blowout killed about 3,700 seabirds including marine animals such as dolphins, elephant seals, sea lions and many more. The Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969 is ranked the largest oil spill that ever occurred in the waters of California. Therefore, there have been many lasting impacts such as (Snyder), wildlife damage, natural beauty of the ocean,…