The purpose of our paper is to argue in support of preventing potential new offshore drilling sites and eventually put an end to offshore drilling as a whole. Offshore drilling refers the extraction of oil and other natural resources off the shores of nearby continents.
In 2008 George W. Bush lifted the bans on local offshore drilling in this US, which ignited controversial debates about whether the United States should actually expand our involvement in this activity. Obama’s recent decision to allow offshore drilling in US waters has only magnified the dispute. However, this month, there was an oil spill by BP gas in the Gulf of Mexico, and its effects have been devastating. Although, currently Obama has put new offshore drilling at a stand still until the current disaster is resolved, the possibility still exists. We are going to use this incident and other recent incidents of oil leaks and spills to support our argument that offshore drilling is destructive and wrong, and therefore should end permanently.
We are going to argue that offshore drilling and any destruction of the environment is ethically wrong, using The Land Ethic by Aldo Leopold and the environmental definition of rights. We will also take the environmentalist’s stand against offshore drilling to protect nature and state of our future environment.
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What about deep sea drilling that are far from the shores, do you think it is allowed? Or do you think for the same reason, and in the same degree, it is like the offshore drilling as well, should be banned? You might also want to discuss what we would do after we ran out of oil if offshore drilling is prevented.
ReplyDeleteSomething that might strengthen your argument is addressing where America will get its oil if not from offshore drilling. Or it might be worthwhile to briefly address America's current dependency on oil and the fact that if we decrease that dependency there would be no need to drill offshore for oil.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the ethics of the existing crisis? What do you think BP should have to do, how much of the damages are the accountable for?
ReplyDeleteIs the US consuming or exporting the oil extracted from offshore wells? What difference does it make?
ReplyDeleteIf you were to look at the cost benefit analysis side of offshore drilling would stopping offshore drilling be beneficial to the US society in the long run? Would stopping offshore drilling go against the utilitarian point of view?
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Elizabeth said: where would the U.S. get their oil from? Will you propose an alternative energy source or just outline the problem of offshore drilling? Is your paper meant to focus on the problem or on its solution? It's beneficial to illustrate the wrongness of something like offshore drilling, but since oil is so important for our country (at least for now), it might also be worthwhile to present a few solutions so that we can feasibly move away from offshore drilling and stick to the Land Ethic.
ReplyDeleteIn what ways, besides oil spills, can offshore drilling be ecologically destructive? (ex: coastal erosion --> New Orleans [and the rest of the affected Gulf area] being more susceptible to damage from Hurricane Katrina as a result of erosion from offshore drilling)
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to also take in to account a cost-benefit analysis? How would offshore drilling being most "efficient" or how could you make the argument that a cost-benefit analysis is not necessary to make your point? Also, is it possible to discuss the principle of utility: if drilling benefits the most number of people by providing consumers with the resources they need and the oil spills only directly hurt a small number of people then is it not best to continue drilling?
ReplyDeleteWhat are some of the alternatives to off-shore drilling if the U.S. does ban it? In otherwords, what are some other ways the U.S. can do to reduce our depency on oil (thus not needing to do offshore drilling?) In addition, what are some of the damages besides oil spills that offshore drilling can have on our environment? Are these damages specific to offshore drilling or all oil drilling everywhere?
ReplyDeleteHave you considered mentioning other places that have been threatened by oil drilling, such as the Artic National Wildlife Refuge? How would the effects on this environment differ from the effects that off-shore drilling would have upon the ocean? What about oil-drilling at all for that matter? Can it be considered ethical, if only in a utilitarian sense to take such a risk and drill so far down into the Earth to extract only a compartively small quantity and yet ruin or risk ruining an entire ecosystem around the drill site. Especially with off-shore drilling, the plankton in the ocean would die in mass quantities, which in turn would not only destroy the food chains from the bottom up. Even if only a small portion of the plankton was destroyed, the excess CO2 being emitted by the cars with the gas that drilling is providing just places more harmful green houses gases into the atmosphere. Indirect results of the drilling such as this could be examined as well to provide additional informational support.
ReplyDeleteACCording to anthropocentrism, natrual has instrumental value and it is here to serve human beings. Do you think it might be a waste of resouce if we stop oil drilling? i mean we should find a efficient way thrill the oil.
ReplyDeleteHow would you respond to people that are already outraged at the current oil prices? They would only get angrier if offshore drilling were stopped. Would you use cost-benefit analysis to solve this issue? Why does it take a catastrophic issue such as the BP incident for people to the harms of drilling?
ReplyDeleteConsidering how people are concerned only when a disaster occurs, should one view this ethical decision in stopping oil drilling based on a Rule Utilitarianism approach or Act Utilitarianism? Or is there another way to persuade those that believe people are just preferences?
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