Let's not forget the Exxon Valdez oil disaster that had more than 40 million liters of crude oil draining from a wrecked oil tanker in its attempt to reach Long Beach California. In 2007, the oil spill at Francisco Bay poured 58000 gallons of oil in the bay covering birds and other wildlife.
Although the American Government has declared this a National disaster; they are paying close attention to major threats to wildlife, fisheries and tourism. We really need to treat this as an environmental risk that affects us all. These spills carry toxic material and damage to coastal habitats and an obstruction to marine life.
As declared by the US Government, this spill could continue as much as ninety days. If this happens as much as four States could be affected. Florida, with its beaches known to inhabit marine life will see devastation beyond comprehension.
With all these oil spills, shouldn't we ask the question, is there a need to continue with offshore drilling and are there alternatives such as wind and solar technology? The US Government needs to start looking into allocating funds towards this effort. In the attempt to extract oil from well below the ocean floor this is upsetting our marine and deep sea life and as well posses a risk to future oil spills. With offshore drilling accounting for at least 30 percent of the total US oil production their reliance on it is becoming quite evident. Americans uses about 8 billion barrels of oil per year and it's projected that at least 1000 barrels will spill in the Gulf of Mexico over the next 40 years.
Canada is keeping close watch in order to learn from the mismanagement of this disaster. Although Canadian provinces such as Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as Nova Scotia already has been taking measures to prevent these oil spill disasters. With Canada's polar arctic there is much at stake.
We are all affected by the need for our marine and wild life. We cannot live without them because they contribute to our own existence. If we can start to harness the powers of wind, solar and alternative energy we could do away with the need for offshore drilling that is upsetting our ecosystem.
We need to prevent disasters from happening year after year. There are many things each of us can do to contribute to prevent these unnecessary disasters. We can volunteer, write, as well as advocate and educate ourselves to learning about ways to help the Government harness these powers to eliminate offshore drilling.
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