Social Protest: Expansion of Oil Drilling in the United States

Social Protest:

Expansion of Oil Drilling in the United States

For the past century, oil has been one of the most important commodities in the world for human civilization. It has been termed the “mother of all commodities” as it is used for a vast number of different purposes, including kerosene, asphalt, powering motor vehicles, and as a chemical reagent for the production of plastics and pharmaceuticals. (U.S. Department of Energy) In the first half of the 20th century, the United States was the world largest producer and consumer of petroleum. However, the United States’ oil production peaked in 1960’s as it was surpassed by the Soviet Union and Saudi Arabia. It does however remain the world’s largest consumer of oil by a large margin. Due to this fact, and the rising prices of oil in today’s world there have been increased calls for the United States’ government to relax restrictions on oil drilling in the United States, most notably in the form of offshore drilling and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This has been greatly opposed by many environmental groups who cite the dangers and destruction associated with oil drilling. Over the past decade in particular this has been an increasingly controversial issue, in 2008 then-President George W. Bush lifted a 1990 executive order put in place by his father, George H.W. Bush, banning offshore drilling. Around the same time, the issue of domestic oil drilling became one of the major points of the 2008 Presidential Election. Those who protest the expansion of domestic oil production cite the aforementioned environmental threats as well as argue that it is only a temporary solution and it deters from the immediate development of alternative energy sources.

An important reason for the the opposition to expanding domestic oil production is the environmental impact that both offshore drilling and drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and elsewhere could have. In regards to offshore drilling...