Environmental Science Class.. Title the Oil Industry

¶ … Environmental Science class.. Title the Oil Industry Environment

APA Guidelines format 4-6 References I 4-6 Pages Written text photos / data tables

The effects of the Oil Industry on the Environment

In spite of the fact that society has experienced significant moral progress in the recent decades, people continue to associate well-being with financial profits regardless of the effects that their actions have on society and this is reflected by the fact that the oil industry has inflicted great damage on the environment in the last few years. The fact that society has come to depend on oil makes it especially difficult for someone to experience positive results as a result of criticizing individuals involved in the oil business. Communities who have access to free oil wells are privileged and society has virtually learnt to exploit any oil source that it can possibly find. This has devastating consequences on the environment, considering that oil pollutes greatly and that oil-related accidents are typically known to affect nature.

Until humanity comes across a more economical energy source or until oil wells are dried out conditions are likely to remain critical in the oil industry. "Oil production, and/or transportation, can disrupt the human population, and the animal and fish life of the region. Oil waste dumping, production pollution, and spills wreak havoc on the surrounding wildlife and habitat. It threatens the extinction of several plants, and has already harmed many land, air, and sea animal and plant species" (Dabbs 1996). There are virtually innumerable negative effects that oil production has on society as a whole, but these effects are generally ignored as a result of the fact that influential corporations are focused on maximizing their profits.

The oil industry experienced significant progress during the recent decades and it is particularly difficult for environmentalists to do something about it now. The fact that oil was not initially perceived as an energy resource that would have a negative influence on the environment played an important role in getting people's attention away from the actual root of the problem. As the industry developed and as more and more investors got involved in exploiting this resource it became obvious that it was too late for ecologists to do something.

When considering the attitudes of countries that have oil and the attitudes of multinational oil companies, one is likely to discover that they have conflicting interests. Although they are interested in making profits as a result of holding large amounts of oil, host communities sadly stand by an observe as influent players step in and significantly degrade the natural environment in these countries. Furthermore, the profits that these communities make are not even comparable with the overall profits made by corporations investing in these areas. Similar to any other company interested in making profits, oil corporations are solely concerned about maximizing returns on their investments (Taylor 2010, 329).

The numbers associated with oil industry environmental damage are downright horrifying. Oil spills are one of the most significant issues related to the oil industry and about 2300 cubic meters of the substance are spilled in approximately 300 incidents on a yearly basis in Nigeria alone. Gas flaring is responsible for soot that accumulates on earth or on buildings and acts like a dangerous pollutant for flora and fauna that it interacts with. Oil needs to be transported through large pipelines and their presence destroys vegetation in most areas, brings on a significant risk for people living next to them, and renders soil unusable. Water sources are essential in some areas because people are too poor to procure it from other sources and contaminated waters have been reported to destroy entire communities. The presence of oil-related concepts in a community is typically known to bring on significant detriments, as oil is known to negatively affect "large areas, destroying crops, economic trees, the ecosystem, and fishing areas" (Ali-Akpajiak & Pyke 2003, 45).

One of the most disturbing concepts related to the oil industry is the fact that individuals involved in the business are particularly powerful. In spite of the fact that oil extraction has negatively affected the boreal forest in the Canadian forest, the authorities express little interest in condemning the affair. Moreover, the fact that tar sands and oil fields have destroyed large forested territories has made it increasingly difficult for woodland caribou to continue to thrive in the area. Instead of protecting caribou habitat, executives have reached the conclusion that wolves living at this location are actually responsible for the fact that caribou numbers have been seriously reduced in the recent years. As a consequence, the government of Alberta decided that it was only logical for it to commence a large-scale operation meant to remove wolf population from the region. This is very similar to a comedy where no one knows why he or she actually performs a certain act but continues to do it because he or she is unable to think logically. While oil magnates continue to damage the environment the authorities focus on killing wolves, further contributing to destroying wildlife in the region. "Over the past five years, the government of Alberta has spent more than $1 million poisoning wolves with strychnine and shooting them from the air" (Struzik 2011). Despite the government's efforts, caribou herds continue to diminish and wolves continue to be considered scapegoats. At the same time, the oil industry continues to thrive and insensitive people continue to fill their pockets with money produced through murdering innocent animals and through destroying forests.

The BP oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico is the most terrifying oil-related accidents to have ever happened, considering its magnitude, the damage that it caused, and the economic loss that it triggered. The spill caused significant damage to marine and wildlife habitation and has virtually made it impossible for the fishing and tourism industries in the area to continue to function. No one could have ever imagined that such an accident was possible before it actually happened and BP officials were practically bewildered by the incident. This accident enabled the whole world to accept the fact that oil is especially dangerous and that the simplest of accidents can lead to a catastrophe that takes decades and even centuries to remedy.