We are killing by offshore drilling

While a majority of us rely on oil and gas production for electricity, transportation, and everyday life, we must look at the consequences of offshore drilling and put an end to it. In October 2021, my hometown, Huntington Beach, California, was devastated by an oil spill from an offshore drilling platform. Not only did this affect the marine ecosystems, seabirds, and shorelines but it also affected the health of the citizens who lived along this coast. It put a pause on recreational activity along the coast by closing down the beaches and even canceled the last day of the airshow which over 2.9 million people around the world come to see.

According to BOEM offshore platforms contribute to 15% of the nation's oil production and 2% of the nation's natural gas production. While this may not sound like an outstanding amount, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and the impact it has on climate change this is a significant number. In July, the Department of Interior released a proposed plan which mapped out where the government could allow public waters to be drilled from 2023 to 2028. In the Gulf alone, the Biden administration would offer 95 million acres for leasing of oil and gas production. A month later, in August, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act which appears to invest in clean energy, but also allows for long-term offshore leasing off the coast of Alaska and in the Gulf.

Two weeks ago nation’s around the world met in Egypt for the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference. At this conference, the United States of America spoke on the fact that ocean-based solutions are key to climate mitigation. This includes launching a green shipping challenge, enhancing ocean conservation, and assessing ocean risk and vulnerability. However, only ten days after the conference, trust and confidence have been lost in these statements because BOEM has issued a final notice for the sale of 958,202 acres of Alaska’s south-central coast. This sale has been strongly influenced by the Dirty Deal between Senator Joe Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that the Biden administration has failed to take the proper action to stop.

Offshore drilling is a disaster waiting to happen in our marine ecosystems. Even when these platforms are not causing massive spills they continue to seep an estimated amount of 5 million gallons of oil annually into the ocean. Hydrocarbon, nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen and other dangerous chemical pollutants mix together to form this crude oil. When an oil spill takes place it blocks the sunlight hitting the ocean which significantly reduces the rate of photosynthesis for kelp forest. With kelp forest contaminated, algae, larva plankton, food resources, and fish communities become severely affected which creates a domino affect in the trophic levels of the marine ecosystem. Intertidal zones also become covered in oil as the waves bring oil ashore and back into the ocean. In addition, marine animals would be disturbed by the sonar noises for the building of these infrastructures. With the top layer of the ocean covered in oil, the ocean can not do its job as acting as an important carbon sink for our highly polluted world. This will create a direct impact on our lives and increase the rate of climate change. 

I truly question the moral of these offshore drilling companies. Why do we continue to create harm within our communities? The people who have to take responsibility in cleaning up these oil spills face higher levels of ALP, damaging their livers and having noticeable changes in their hepatic, pulmonary, hematological and cardiac functions. Last year, I watched these individuals in hazmat suits attempt to protect themselves from the harmful pollutants that will impact their bodies for a lifetime. 

The Indigenous people in the Artic are facing a significant environmental justice crisis with offshore drilling. The Artic may seem like a prime geographical location to extract oil because it is estimated that 22% of Earth’s undiscovered gas an oil is locked up here, but we must think about the humanitarian crises we are posing on the indigenous people. The Iñupiat would experience a threat to food security, impacts in noise, light, and sound pollution, and mental health decline. Globally this would rapidly increase the temperature, due to the Artic warming 4x faster than the rate of the rest of the world. This will create a spiral effect on the world with increase in natural disasters.

You can be the change that stops offshore drilling. There are several approaches you can take. One approach includes advocating against offshore drilling by informing your legislators of your concerns. This template by People vs Fossil Fuel does a great job of laying out the actions you can take. To support your call for action, you may want to take the initial step of researching offshore drilling impacts more in-depth. This may look like building out an ocean planning process that hones in on what marine animals live closest to you, observing their migration patterns, feeding sites, and analyzing what recreational activities take place in this area along with the fishing and economic centers that are nearby. Economic centers could include beachfront restaurants or even homes that could depreciate in value if tar from an oil spill is left behind for years. 

Make a difference by reassessing your own practices. Invest in and support renewable energy. Be conscious about the energy you are using. Do not contribute to waste of energy. Leaving the lights on, leaving your phone or electronic devices plugged into the wall, and turning on the heat or cold air instead of taking off a layer or bundling up all contribute to a waste of energy. By reducing our energy consumption we will need to extract less oil and gas which will allow us to remove offshore drilling platforms and create a cleaner and healthier environment and ocean.