Oil...America's Worst Enemy

By Dave Ragazzo

What is America to do? When the United States went into the Middle East to fight terrorism, there was much speculation that they were really trying to gain control of the much coveted oil fields over there. George W. Bush caught a lot of hate from that move because people didn’t want him to take over another region, when we could get oil on our own soil. Unfortunately, the oil in our country has become our worst enemy.

On April 20, an explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico has caused great destruction in the body of water. The explosion caused 11 workers to go missing who have since been presumed dead. It was also initially reported that the oil rig was leaking 1,000 barrels a day. Since then, the NY Times reported that the initial report was wrong, and that the rig was actually leaking at 5,000 barrels a day.

On top of all this, a third leak was discovered a few days after the accident. The third leak only shows how serious of a problem this really is, and action must be taken immediately to help out the ocean.

This is obviously a very serious environmental issue that does garner much attention. There is a lot at stake because of this oil leak. There are millions of species of animals that call the Gulf of Mexico home, and this oil leak will only affect their daily life. These species of animals will either have to quickly relocate, or suffer the consequences.

I was initially for the United States digging for oil on our own soil because I thought it would overall help our country. It could help drive down the cost of gas, which is once again rising to absurd amounts and it could also help the United States leave the Middle East. We would not have to rely on outside sources for our oil, which is one of our most important imports. However, now I wish we had not done this. This oil leak will have a great affect on our environment because it is going to take a long time to clean up this gargantuan mess. Although this mess is very bad for the Gulf of Mexico, it can be fixed. The fixing however must come quickly before the damage only gets worse.