Drill Baby Drill
With the start of his new term, President Trump has quickly done everything in his power to reverse as much of climate change and global warming acts as possible. Within days of his initiation, the president-elect withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement Act and shut down funding for renewable energy resources. Trump has stated in several interviews how he plans to expand fossil fuel production instead of reducing it as we should be as a country. Even with his famous line, “Drill baby, drill” Trump has made it quite clear with his intentions towards oil production and manufacture.
The process of drilling starts off with securing the oil rig to ensure no moving pieces or malfunctions start. The machine then cuts through the ground and dives to the depth where oil is stored. Using seismic machines and geologists, the oil companies can pinpoint pods of oil underneath the ground. While this process may sound relatively simple, it has an extremely dangerous and negative impact on the environment. Oftentimes, explosions and combustion are common on drill sites and responsible for a fraction of wildfires in the areas. The pipelines that carry the oil are also often likely to leak and break, pouring oil straight into water reserves or land masses, polluting and endangering animals all around the sights.
Not only is the production and maintenance of the drill sites dangerous for the environment and global warming/climate change, but the outcomes of oil production have the same negative warnings. Much of the oil is burned and released into the atmosphere, responsible for part of global warming with greenhouse gases and such. When the oil is burned off, the carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere, acting as a layer of insulation for the heat of the sun's rays. Overall, this side effect from oil rigs and production causes serious expediting of global warming and climate change. When the weather starts to increase, we tend to see rises in destruction from natural disasters and storms. Scientists have already predicted more intense and concentrated storms occurring in the near future.
Many activists and global leaders have started defunding and denying money from companies like big oil and coal producers to lean more toward green and renewable energies. Banks have also stopped giving loans to these big mining companies in an attempt to slow down and stop supporting non-renewable resources. "Trump's victory presents a real obstacle in the global fight against climate change," said Alice Hill, senior fellow at an independent think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations. "Under President Trump's leadership, the United States will almost certainly step back from global and domestic efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increasing fossil fuel production." In this quote from Hill, the media has already speculated an increase in global emissions and greenhouse gases.
Continuing to drill and dig into the earth for limited resources is reckless and nonsustainable. The environment does not have enough wiggle room to allow such quantities of pollution and smog to be created. Trump has made it clear in several interviews and press conferences that he has no plans for green acts and plans to continue investments in big oil and coal companies. Without new policies and changes being made, we can expect to be at an irreversible level of environmental damage that is no longer sustainable for humans, much faster than what could be created if we stopped funding these companies.
Thank you for going into depth about how the drilling process truly is. I assumed this process is extremely dangerous, but I’m glad that you touched on that. It is insane to me that this is not breaking any laws you know what I mean?
ReplyDeleteThat's true, the potential risks and degree of how dangerous it is probably contributes to why these jobs are so high paid because no one else wants to work in such conditions.
DeleteOpenly stating that you have no plans for green acts is not a smart move on the Trump administration's part. Definently been a controversial, downside of his presidency.
ReplyDeleteI heard this quote from Trump of "drill baby drill" a lot over the last couple of months. It good to get more clarity on it. It seems like we are moving in the wrong direction with this new president.
ReplyDeleteWhat is his plan for when there is nothing left? It seems so cruel to the environment and humans to do this. The current administration is only thinking about the now and the money of the wealthy! What about the future?
ReplyDeleteThis is really important to cover because even if it's just four years the damage could be irreparable. Trump does not understand that even three or four more drilling projects could mean widespread contamination of desperately needed freshwater sources, or enough carbon emission to raise our global temperatures past the 2 degrees celcius mark. We need to conserve, and continue to push against this, whatever it takes.
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ReplyDeleteThe detailed breakdown of the drilling process and its environmental consequences was both informative and alarming. It’s shocking to see how much policy decisions can have such far-reaching impacts on our planet.
I am really glad you not only touched on the view that our political leaders have on the oil industry but also the dangerous and risky process that this drilling entails. I took a thermal physics class while at K College and learned extensively about this process and was shocked. I did not know that explosions on these sites are responsible for a decent amount of our wildfires, that is terrifying. I can't image what irreparable damage is going to be done to our planet in the next four years, a truly terrifying thought.
ReplyDeletePresident Trump's aggressive push for fossil fuel production, epitomized by his "Drill Baby Drill" mantra, poses a significant threat to environmental sustainability and climate stability, as it not only exacerbates greenhouse gas emissions but also undermines global efforts to transition to renewable energy sources.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you detailed the oil drilling process because while I knew a little bit about it, I did not have a good understanding of it. It is terrifying to watch this Trump and his administration not only encourage this, but to blatantly say that he has no plans for any green acts.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, MJ! You highlight the serious risks of oil drilling and its impact on the environment. With the rise of renewable energy, do you think financial incentives could help speed up the transition away from fossil fuels? Also, how can policymakers ensure a balance between meeting energy needs and protecting the planet?
ReplyDeleteI am so shocked and disgusted at the amount of people who heard this and cheered. Do they know what they have done?? Wildlife is so beautiful and perfect and unimaginable and the things they plan to bring upon both flora and fauna are beyond awful and cruel.
ReplyDeleteI've always known of the environmental threats of burning oil products, but I've never known much about how the oil is sourced in the first place. Your blog provided a realistic, and scary, description to how destructive the entire oil industry is to all aspects of the environment. I am truly disgusted with Trump's efforts to continue to encourage oil drilling and am extremely worried for what is to come throughout his term.
ReplyDeleteThank you for talking more about the actual process of drilling and what all that entails, we talk about oil often but I feel I wasn't as informed on the processes as I should have been
ReplyDeleteYou describe a standard well, which is interesting. And there are so many other types of drilling also destructive of the environment, even more so - off shore, deep sea, arctic, even with coal "mountain top removal."
ReplyDeleteIt's cray that he has no plans to work in a green initiative, and instead is continuing to drill for oil, like the oil companies don't have enough of that, and instead use the money that they are using on the rigs to start working towards more environmentally friendly renewable sources.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I'm not totally sure why, but to me this is a difficult subject/issue because it's the president of the United States that is lying to the whole world and the worst part is that people know that they're lies but still accept it because people fear change and won’t admit they’re wrong. In the book we are reading, Ministries for the future, the Götterdämmerung syndrome is described, and it seems like it applies to the current president. No plans for green acts in 2025 is just totally insane.
ReplyDeleteThis was such a great and thorough post. I didn't know much about the process of drilling oil or how many effects it had on the environment. Are there any alternatives to oil that can be used?
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