For my paper, I have chosen to examine the topic of deep-water oil drilling, an issue that has risen to the surface in a significant way since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the Gulf Coast on April 20, 2010.  The event was in the news continually, as it should have been, because it was the worst environmental disaster in the history of the United States.  Previously, the Exxon Valdez Oil spill was the worst catastrophic event regarding oil drilling, and I have paid much attention to that over the years, boycotting Exxon and recently learning that some of the original defendants in the lawsuit had died, waiting for a resolution of that incident over 20 years ago.  The recent oil spill has been catastrophic; besides the fact that eight people were killed in the explosion, the damage to the careers as well as the lives of millions of Gulf Coast residents has been unimaginable.  In this paper, I will discuss the event itself, U.S. legislation connected with the topic of deep-water oil drilling, and the need for continual vigilance regarding this industry and whether or not it should even exist in this country.

Also known as the BP Oil spill, the problem began when there was an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, resulting in more than 60,000 barrels of oil spilling into the Gulf daily until the well was capped on July 15.  The result was devastating to marine life and wildlife because the oil came on shore, saturating the marshes surrounding the gulf, making it impossible to remove much of the oil from land.

Deepwater oil exploration is the process by which companies drill for oil further and further out to sea, and deeper under the ocean floor, going as far as 1000 feet down in order to recover oil and natural gas. (Deepwater Oil Exploration, 2006-2010). Although the process is extremely costly, the increase in oil prices beginning in 2007 made it a desirable industry in order to meet the insatiable need for oil in this country.  Although there has been a segment of the population that has never been happy with our involvement in deepwater drilling, the Gulf oil spill this year has caused people to finally take a look at whether or not the process should be banned, given the unbelievably high price to pay when there is a spill of the nature that was experienced in April.

The conflict has been how states can balance the protection of the environment with the economical development of their region  (2010 offshore Oil Drilling legislation, 2010). There are some states that have completely banned drilling, while other receive significant tax benefits and so have the incentive to permit oil drilling off-shore.  Since the oil spill in April, several states have introduced legislation regarding oil spill cleanup planning, recovery for damages incurred by spills, and in some states, legislation requiring moratoriums on drilling are pending.  In fact, following the April spill, President Obama imposed a moratorium on off-shore drilling, but under increasing pressure to lift the ban he did so after a few months.

There are other offshore oil drilling laws that focus on liability, drilling prohibitions, and taxes on offshore drilling  (2010 offshore Oil Drilling legislation, 2010). For example Florida and Virginia forbid drilling along their coastlines.  Alabama and Florida tax offshore drilling, and Virginia prohibits drilling for oil in the Chesapeake Bay and any of its tributaries.

One of the true villains in this story is the Minerals Management Service, a part of the United States Department of Interior, which was charged with overseeing the approval of permits for offshore drilling.  Part of their role was oversight of the industry and they failed miserably in this, allegedly socializing with members of the oil industry as well as having industry members fill out the permit forms and simply adding their signature of approval. (Simon, 2010.) The agency fell into such disregard that it had to change its name to The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, or BOEMRE.

Given the fact that the disaster that has occurred in the Gulf will have an impact on marine life, wildlife and the life of its citizens for decades to come, I believe that there should be a permanent moratorium on off-shore drilling.  I realize that the major incentive to continue with off-shore drilling is to avoid having to depend even more on purchasing foreign oil, but this country needs a wakeup call in order for us to seriously decrease our dependence on oil period.  Being dependent on foreign countries to provide us with oil is only one part of the problem; the real issue is that we are addicted to oil and have so far stubbornly refused to make a major change in this area.  Driving less, investing in electric cars and taking public transportation are all viable, potential ways to address our problem with oil.  If the disaster in the Gulf was not horrible enough to produce major change on both an individual as well as a global basis, I can’t imagine what it will take.