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Running head: RESEARCH ESSAY DRAFT 1

RESEARCH ESSAY DRAFT 1

Research Essay Draft

Teacher C omment: This is a wonderful start, but not what was asked for in this draft. I needed to see here an analysis of your topic using one of the ethical theories we've studied this term. This is an easy topic to use utilitarianism with. Be sure to use one of them in the final draft and refer to the syllabus for how I want you to break down the section.

An ethical evaluation of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

To drill or not to drill? That has, for quite some time, been the question in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The Refuge was established in 1960 to save and ensure its unique wilderness, abundant wildlife, and recreational value (Hulbert, 2011) as post-WWII development and resource development raised concerns about ecological misfortunes. One of the most diverse areas of the artic is the Refuge with notable species such as caribou, musk oxen, and polar bears. After years of debate within Congress, in 1980 there was the passage of Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) which doubled the size of the Refuge and most of the original range was deemed as wilderness. However, a few people in America attempt to be greedy and need to drill more oil.

We should stand up and say “no” to individuals who tried to obliterate our home once more. From numerous perspectives, drilling oil is an awful thing. To start with, drilling oil in a pristine wild territory isn’t an answer in light of the fact that there isn’t sufficient oil for individuals’ needs. Plans to drill for oil in the ANWR according to Perry & Alkire (2017), ought to be dismissed to save and protect the key species, and overall biodiversity of the biological system as the environmental harm to wildlife incurred from oil drilling and improvement exceeds potential economic advantages. Numerous non-profits, concerned citizens, organizations, governments, and researchers have poured their time and money to the conservation of the species in ANWR, and permitting drilling would be a major step backward in this paramount region.

Drilling oil in this territory comes with different consequences; negative consequences. For example, there is the potential of a major oil spill. In the history of the Trans-Alaskan pipeline System, there have been three major spills. These spills were as a result of failed monitoring systems that did not detect that there was a leak. This led to the dumping of 267,000 gallons of crude oil, another incident was in 1978 when 700,000 gallons was poured out of the pipeline by a group of vandals. In 2001 a pipeline was shot by a hunter which caused spilling. If such an incident was to happen in ANWR it would to the migration of animals from the area which would lead to habitat change (Evan, 2017).

More research is needed in order to find out the effects of drilling in the ANWR. Any plans for drilling in this area should be rejected to preserve the biodiversity of the ecosystem and the species. Also, until we are confident about the effects of drilling on the wildlife and it is certain that potential benefits will outweigh the impacts, there should be no drilling in the area.

References

Hulbert, B. P. (2011). Ecological impacts of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife

Refuge (Doctoral dissertation).

Perry, A., & Alkire, C. (2017). Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Economics of Potential Oil

Development.

Evan. (2017, December 6). Arctic national wildlife refuge: How drilling for oil could impact wildlife. State of the Planet. https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2017/12/06/arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-drilling-oil-impact-wildlife/