The question for this week’s assignment is to drill or not to drill? In the question it states that many people are debating how to best meet energy needs in the United States. I do understand how some think that alternative sources of energy, such as wind and solar power will help decrease our dependence on oil but in the long run you will still need oil to keep our country and its citizens employed as well as it is what helps this nation in monetary avenues also.
My entire family lives, works, breathes and plays in the Gulf of Mexico. We all work in the oil industry. We are the operators for the plants that refines the oil to be used for our vehicles, for our roads, to our energy plants throughout the United States. My husband and his work are geologist and they study the Gulf floor and have surveyed Alaska, there are oil wells that could by the three companies they work with say could completely keep us from ever using any foreign oil within this country. We would be self sufficient. I work for a helicopter company who carries men offshore to these rigs and so that they can bring the crude into the ports to be refined to supply the companies with the oil needed to complete their jobs.
We had one accident in the Gulf and yes it was bad. It caused many problems, but we came back. We are finding now that companies are starting to listen to the employees on the rigs, petroleum refining companies and seeing things done to improve safety. If the government would get out of the way and allow good truly safe economic companies do the jobs that we are capable of doing we would be able to give jobs to people who really wanted to work and the employment rates would drop drastically throughout the Gulf states. In everything there will be a cost, but when people who know how to do a