Common Sense In Ecology And National Security

Tuesday's Investor's Business Daily posted an article about offshore drilling and its effect on the environment.  As you read the article, it becomes very obvious that things are not always what they appear to be.

The article cites a Florida oceanographer working for the Interior Department who studied the impact of relatively new offshore oil drilling in the Arctic off of Alaska. 

According to the article:

""We found early in the process that impacts to the environment from offshore drilling were minimal," said John Trefry, a marine and environmental systems professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. "In fact, the entire offshore area was near-pristine.""

Obviously this was not what he thought he would find.  There are two things to be considered in the discussion of offshore drilling.  The first is that when an oil rig is put into the ocean, it attracts marine life.  The article reports that:

"Paul Sammarco, a marine biologist at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, surveyed abandoned drilling rigs and discovered that they had "spawned lush marine habitats that are home to a profusion of rare corals and 10,000 to 30,000 fish each.""

The other thing to consider is the precautions oil companies take in order to avoid spills and leakage.  The article further states:

"According to the U.S. Minerals Management Service, between 1985 and 2001, spills from offshore platforms and pipelines accounted for only 2% of the oil released in U.S. waters."

The majority of oil in the marine environment is the result of oil seeps.  The article mentions that:

"In Southern California, they (oil seeps) contribute 98% of the crude in the offshore zone. Those same natural seeps are responsible for 60% of the oil found in the North American marine environment."

At a time when the price of oil is again climbing and most of the oil in the world is owned by countries not friendly to America, it would be wise to explore offshore drilling before the price climbs higher and the oil-producing countries become even less friendly.  Enviromental studies show that offshore drilling is not the problem it was once thought to be.