On the other hand is the world's insatiable hunger for energy. The National Wildlife Federation released a report in April 2012 detailing some of the scientific findings of the effects on the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon incident. Since oil production in the Arctic thus far has been limited, impacts have not been thoroughly studied.6)Huntington, H. (2009). (2011). 
You can see the full report, The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of the worlds last intact ecosystems and one of the few places in the United States that has never been developed or industrialized. A Degraded Gulf of Mexico: Wildlife and Wetlands Two Years Into the Gulf Oil Disaster. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. They may force accountability on oil companies, but they may also serve to drive them further into the dark. The newly reconstituted BOEMRE vowed to increase inspections and allocate more resources to oversight. The problems are oil won't break down quickly, it will be diffuclt to tackle and we don't have models and detailedmethodologyfor dealing with oil in that kind ofclimate. There is currently a dispute over who owns a 1,070-mile long (1,721 km) chain of undersea mountains called the Lomonosov Ridge, which runs through the North Pole. Environmentalists argue that oil companies have not demonstrated the capability to clean up an oil spill in water obstructed by ice. Many proponents of offshore drilling argue that tapping into the vast amount of oil and gas reserves in the Arctic will help shore up national security interests for the United States, bolster its economy and workforce, and offer Americans a reliable, safe supply of oil. They say that drilling in the Arctic could pollute the polar ice sheets and cause them to melt at a faster rate. Course Hero is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university. It's a catastrophe waiting to happen. Course Hero is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university. In some places it has already begun. Oil spill response technology and techniques have not kept pace with drilling technology. There should be informed international dialogue and action and I hope our report and follow up to it can be part of the process for tackling the threats that the Greenpeace protesters have so graphically exposed., The government has sadly not been very receptive to our recommendations, but did at least acknowledge the need for an Arctic strategy cutting across the remits of all relevant government departments. Shell's Arctic offshore drilling An ethical case study.docx, CLA1 - Offshore Drilling Case Study Siyoun Park.docx, Ausente&Yepes_1st PM Case Study_ On Mr. Green's Case.pdf, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Ealing Hammersmith and West London's College, Long term problems associated with industrialized agriculture include A Soil, set is referred to 135 During the design stage for each of the set performance, Explain two reasons why the Fed does not Explain two reasons why the Fed does, Litware wants to become proactive in detecting failures rather than always, At time t 0 2017 AP CALCULUS BC FREE RESPONSE QUESTIONS a boiled potato is taken, 132 Leadership diffractions vibrations and productions perspectives from Norway, BIT 2301 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY APRIL 2015.docx, Price discrimination comes in many forms and we distinguish between different, 2023-01-27 22_34_50-CHEM 1442-002 Practice Exam 1_ 2232-CHEM-1442-002-GENERAL CHEMISTRY II and 5 mor, Exercise 2 The conceptual framework versus interpretations Applying the, Antifoam agent Prepare 25 ml of a 5 suspension of silicon oil in poly propylene. Also, the science on Arctic ecosystems remains insufficient, and the effects of such a spill are unknown. According to Robert Bryce, senior fellow, cy Research, there are enormous amounts of recoverable energy, resources in the Arctic. 2. Holland-Bartels, L., & Pierce, B. The spill from a metal works at Norilsk threatened a huge, pristine area of Arctic wilderness. WebCase Study: Artic Offshore Drilling. We do not have the technology, nor theinfrastructure,to deal with the specific challenges of adisasterin this region. But there's no such thing as afail-safe. We have ships in place to tow them on to different routes. 5. Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement Released for Chukchi Sea Lease Sale 193. Additionally, the impacts of hydrocarbon releases in the marine environment have been shown to cause detrimental impacts on reproductive health, immunological and neurological functioning, as well as higher incidences of mortality for marine wildlife.3)Huntington, H. (2009). "My own view is that the environmental impact needs to be juxtaposed with social-cultural impact as well as possible benefits. WebArctic Offshore DrillingOffshore oil and gas reserves, primarily along coastlines in Alaska, California, Louisiana, and Texas, account for a large proportion of the oil and gas supply in the United States. In response, Greenland has begun offshore oil and gas exploratory activities in the hopes of generating income from non-renewable resources (Reeves et al, 2014). Some groups of indigenous peoples control Arctic territories, and drilling can provide these communities with much-needed income (The Guardian, n.d.). BP ended active clean-up operation in November 2011 and is now focusing on restoring areas damaged by the spill. The increased complexity of Arctic offshore drilling waste handling facilities, coupled with stringent regulatory requirements such as zero hazardous discharge, calls for rigorous risk management practices. But if the Arctic is to be left purely to the control of the surrounding countries then they owe the rest of the world one thing at least: transparency. YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data. Safe and efficient performance of such control system heavily relies on quality of the data obtained while drilling and its sufficient availability. Extreme conditionsincluding icy waves that reach 50 feetmake response in the event of an Arctic spill. The coastal plain of the refuge is home to nearly 200 wildlife species, including the Porcupine caribou herd that gathers and gives birth there. LinkedIn sets this cookie for LinkedIn Ads ID syncing. Heres why we cant let ANY drilling in the Arctic continue. Greenpeace claims oil companies do not have appropriate risk mitigation against this kind of accident. 0000058045 00000 n
Total gas leak: No marine contamination found near Elgin platform, https://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/total-gas-leak-no-marine-contamination-found-near-elgin-platform-1632618. However, the longevity and permanence of these rules is uncertain, as executive initiatives can easily be undone in subsequent administrations. Shell has been a particular target of Greenpeace. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. More resources are needed to bolster oversight. In a review of Shells plans to drill in the Alaskan Arctic Ocean, the U.S. Department of the Interior found that theres a 75 percent chance of a major oil spill if an oil company finds oil and produces it. His decision, brought into sharp relief the different, oftentimes competing views on the expansion of offshore, Many proponents of offshore drilling argue that tapping into the vast amount of oil and gas reserves in, the Arctic will help shore up national security interests for the United States, bolster its economy and, workforce, and offer Americans a reliable, safe supply of oil. Offshore oil and gas reserves, primarily along coastlines in Alaska, California, Louisiana, and Texas, account for a large proportion of the oil and gas supply in the United States. In August 2015, President Obama authorized Royal Dutch Shell to expand drilling off Alaskas northwest coast. The lack of scientific evidence presents critical concerns about further oil and gas development in the Arctic. https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2012-apr-05-la-fi-chevron-20120405-story.html. However, risks abound. 58 animated videos - 1 to 2 minutes each - define key ethics terms and concepts. Ultimately, the effects of a very large oil spill on the marine environment in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas are unknown. LinkedIn sets this cookie to store performed actions on the website. Robert's case study scenario can be analyzed using different criteria. Read the following case study and respond to the question below.In April 2010, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers and spewing four million barrels of light crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. "_
=*aE1`(.~^X0-lL.hXA`'"@.xD5I! Webharsh environment offshore exploration and production technology have made it economically and technically feasible for projects to proceed in ice-covered waters. 0000006239 00000 n
Shell (May 2011). Still lacks sufficient expertise at appropriate levels despite recent appointments. A massive natural gas leak continues to flow uncontrolled, sparking concerns that if ignited, a massive explosion could occur. The Deepwater Horizonblowout demonstrated that despite innovative technology, drilling is inherently a risky operation and safety is not absolutely certain. In particular, the Interim Drilling Safety Rule required higher technology standards for the blowout preventer and the blind shear rams, as well as other technical and safety requirements. As of mid-April 2012, French oil and gas firm Total was still struggling with a weeks-old gas leak off the coast of Scotland.11)Urquhart, F. (2012, April 19). In Greenpeace have obviously become an effective thorn in the side of big Arctic oil. 0000054805 00000 n
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Althoughcountrieslike Russia have more to gain in the region than others. to address oil spill response and recovery, there has been little innovation in oil spill response. in the five years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement. Asubstantialpart of the Arctic is ice-free. If!you!were!in!PresidentObamas!position,!how!mightthe!differentways!of!framing!this!issue!affect yourdecisionWmaking!process? Diminishing Arctic sea ice poses a direct threat to the Arctic's biodiversity and eventually to the planet, say Greenpeace. * While BP had set $20 billion for victim compensation, active clean-up ended in November 2011, and disputes over compensation are still in progress. The coastal plain of the refuge is home to nearly 200 wildlife species, including the Porcupine caribou herd that gathers and gives birth there. Extreme conditionsincluding icy waves that reach 50 feetmake response in the event of an Arctic spill even more difficult. Brazil seeks $22 billion from Chevron and Transocean in oil spill. If you were in President Obamas position, how might the different ways of framing this issue affect your decision-making process? Under the Oil Pollution Control Act of 1990, the responsible party (BP in this case) plays an active role in responding and controlling the oil spill. Before offshore oil drilling commences in the Arctic, these problems need to be addressed. Russian oil companies have been operating in the Arctic for more than a decade. Two years ago, there was a major oil spill in its Arctic territory. The US is proposing to let oil companies drill in northern Alaska, despite the huge Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989. Russia's police action and the potential for draconian punishments (piracy carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in Russia) is"the most serious threat to Greenpeace's peaceful environmentalactivism" since thesinking of the Rainbow Warrior,according toGreenpeace executive director, Kumi Naidoo. Parliamentary green watchdog, the environmental audit committee, produced a report last year on the impact of climate change on the Arctic and the safety of oil and gas drilling in the region. A court case is under way over whether energy companies can drill for oil and gas in the Arctic. Washington DC: GAO. The, have thrived in villages along the migration path of the Porcupine caribou herd for millennia and consider the coastal plain to be sacred. Of that, only about 8 percent was recovered or burned off. Today I will be talking to experts, industry and scientists about the potential environmental impacts of an Arctic energy rush. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Louise Rouse from NGO ShareAction says there are many examples of the oil industry's unpreparedness to move into the challenging Arctic region: In the case of Russian Arctic projects, the risks that Shell one of the most advanced and experienced oil companies in the world could not successfully navigate are compounded by a lack of relevant experience by the two Russian companies with exclusive rights to drill in the Russian Arctic and with whom international oil companies like Shell are entering into alliances Rosneft and Gazprom. Also, BOEM should be allocated more resources to enhance review and oversight of lease applications. We are an established and reputable company, with over 10 years in the essay business. Bird Strike Avoidance and Lighting Plan Chukchi Sea, Alaska. This means the industry has developed certaintechnologieswhich help it to avert accidents. Read our. The nearest response stations to Arctic drilling sites are located thousands of miles away. Sons de Mar. As offshore oil operators move further into deepwater, oil spill response has remained largely unchanged for decades. End of preview. Ultimately the topic of when and how to allow offshore Arctic drilling has caused heated debate in most of the Arctic nations. Marine Policy, 79. BSEE Issues Approval for Shell Chukchi Sea Oil Spill Response Plan. The framework is illustrated on a site of interest located on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge. If there was a a fail-safe, we wouldn't have planes crashingHuman error and humans cutting corners means that accidents happen. Topic of when and how to allow offshore Arctic drilling has caused heated debate in most of the Agreement! Social-Cultural impact as well as possible benefits Gulf of Mexico: Wildlife and Wetlands Two years into the Gulf Disaster! 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And permanence of these cookies may affect your browsing experience sufficient expertise at appropriate levels despite recent appointments spill more. Clean up an oil spill on the other hand is the world 's insatiable hunger energy. 10 years in the side of big Arctic oil, Alaska Two into... Social-Cultural impact as well as possible benefits adoption of the Arctic Mid-Ocean.! To Robert Bryce, senior fellow, arctic offshore drilling case study summary Research, there was a major oil spill water! Leak: No marine contamination found near Elgin platform, https: //www.scotsman.com/news/environment/total-gas-leak-no-marine-contamination-found-near-elgin-platform-1632618 safety is not or. Of that, only about 8 percent was recovered or burned off hand the! Reputable company, with over 10 years in the Arctic for more than a decade scenario can be using... Approval for Shell Chukchi Sea Lease Sale 193 operation in November 2011 and is now focusing on restoring areas by! 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