To Drill or Not to Drill

Everyone has their opinions concerning foreign oil and drilling outside of the United States. There is an upside and downside to both arguments and everyone agrees to each for his or her own reasons. To continue to drill in other countries is a good thing because we are already doing it, and it would be expensive to stop doing it. In the other hand, if we stop drilling outside the United States, we become more independent as a country. I believe that President Barack Obama should not stop the drilling in foreign countries. I think we should continue to drill because we could lose a vast amount of money if we stop. It will hurt our economy more than it will help it. Another downside to stop the drilling in other countries is that President Obama said that “the effort to permanently seal an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico is ‘just about over’” (O’Brien, 2010, p. 13). Permanently closing the oil well is a good thing for our oceans and for the people and animals living around the area because of the oil spill that had occurred. Another reason why it will be a bad thing is because there will be less places to produce our oil. Closing this oil well means that we have less places to obtain our oil from. This will be a big loss to everyone in this country because we use oil all the time. There are also other countries that are benefitting from the drilling, and it is not only for our country’s benefit.

The key habit hindering my thinking when I look at the opposing view and defending my own is face saving. This habit is called a defense mechanism by psychologists because people tend to protect their image or ideas. In this case, I am saying that they should not stop drilling. To me it does not make sense that people would want to stop a good thing. I understand that it will bring a bigger independence to our country, but everything is fine the way it is. I also think that another habit hindering my thinking is resistance to change. I am not the type of person who just...