Drilling In Alaska

Author's note:Picture this, white fluffy snow on the trees, snowflakes falling with the wind. The animals roam with their families, and the blue sky soaring above them in a wild and
untouched landscape. Clouds as if they were marshmallows stuck in the sky by a little kid. That kind of beauty is now in danger of being overrun by oil companies drilling and turning clean soil into dark toxic mush. As a team, let’s try stopping this cause and help the animals.

There are 1.5 million acres of federal lands in the coastal plain Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, also known by it's shorter name as ANWR. Drilling in ANWR will only get an estimated guess of 16 billion barrels of oil. On average the world uses 21 billion of barrels of oil a day. America would only get about 9 months worth of oil from the drilling. If Congress were to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, crude oil prices would probably drop by an average of only 75 cents a barrel.

The problem with the drilling in the ANWR is that it will not only harm the land animals, but it will also harm all the marine animals that live in the refuge. So many of the birds we see in our own backyards, in all 50 states, and across six continents, begin their lives in the area were the drilling would be. The land will be torn up by heavy equipment for the building of roads, buildings, and oil lines. There is also a risk of a drilling disaster that could harm the animals and environment.

We need to find other energy sources for the future, so that we are not tearing up any more land, drilling in ocean floors, and shipping it overseas. Oil spills are dangerous and expensive to clean up. The more oil we drill for the more there is a risk of an accident happening. Renewable energy and clean energy are the future so we need to spend money researching that instead of searching for more oil.

America should not be drilling for oil in Alaska. It will probably take many years before enough of the oil is even ready for use. We need to protect the area for future generations and the animals that live there now. Let’s save Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge instead of tearing it up.