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DCL
It's in the news and in the presidential campaign, but what is offshore drilling and why does it matter? As stated by the folks at Wiki, "offshore drilling typically refers to the act of extracting underground resources which lies underwater near the shoreline."
Such an enterprise, quite predictably, is not exactly eco-friendly. The Rainforest Action Network put together this "case against offshore oil":
- A steady stream of pollution from offshore rigs causes a wide range of health and reproductive problems for fish and other marine life.
- Offshore drilling exposes wildlife to the threat of oil spills that would devastate their populations.
- Offshore drilling activities destroy kelp beds, reefs, and coastal wetlands.
- Over its lifetime, a single oil rig can: Dump more than 90,000 metric tons of drilling fluid and metal cuttings into the ocean; drill between 50-100 wells, each dumping 25,000 pounds of toxic metals, such as lead, chromium and mercury, and potent carcinogens like toluene, benzene, and xylene into the ocean; and pollute the air as much as 7,000 cars driving 50 miles a day.
It's humans who have created these problems, so it's up to humans to help protect oceans and marine life.
