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By: Erika Lyijynen Summary: So, this topic is about the most recent off-shore drilling ban Trump announced back in September. This was an extension of an already existing ban, which he extended for another ten years, now going until 2032. This ban makes any off-shore drilling in Florida waters forbidden. This is an interesting topic for multiple reasons. One reason is that Trump is definitely not known for his progressive environmental justice policies. For example, he withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, a well-known bill attempting to fight negative environmental impacts from humans. So— this came as a surprise to a lot of people. Most people assume that this was done on his own political agenda, because Florida has a large amount of electoral votes and Trump wanted to secure the state. It is also interesting because Trump is usually in favor of oil drilling and what it does for the economy. Why we should care? I think we should care about this for multiple reasons. One reason being that we can't depend on environmental policies to be implemented by officials who only care what it makes them look like politically-- if that was the case, we wouldn't be able to get anything done.  Photo Credit: Florida Politics-- AG Gancarski Example Article. https://www.abc12.com/2020/09/08/trump-expands-ban-on-new-offshore-drilling-sites-in-atlantic/ https://www.npr.org/2020/09/26/917309717/as-election-nears-trump-expands-moratorium-on-exploratory-drilling-in-atlantic This is a good mainstream article for a few reasons. It's from ABC, a popular source already. But, it talks about both sides of this ban, the political and environmental, and that's why I chose it. The article goes a little deeper into why Trump actually may have implemented the ban as a last minute resort in order to secure his win for the election in Florida. This article also talks about both sides of the ban, those in favor it and those who aren't. There is always a great deal of people who support off-shore drilling because of what it does for the economy in the area. It often creates a lot of jobs and brings in a good amount of money to the area. The problem is is that the negative environmental impacts are often long-lasting and detrimental. Science in Action.
Dr. Malin Pinsky is a biologist at Rutgers University in the Department of Ecology, Evolution & Natural Resources and part of environmental conservation group Oceana. This scientist works for an environmental conservation group (located in Florida) known as Oceana, that has spoken up about this offshore drilling ban. This group contains multiple scientists that study the ecology, climate, and environment of differen areas and animals in Florida. This scientist is a good resource for me because they not only know the area in question, but they are aware of the impacts that can happen to them.
6 Comments
Alex Day
11/30/2020 00:51:25
It is surprising to hear that Trump is not actively harming the environment for once. Now this definitely could have been a move to gain more voters, but personally I don’t see that decision costing him any votes to begin with really. But he does own Mar a Lago, along the Florida coastline, and it is listed as his voter address in the 2020 Florida Primary, so he might just be trying to keep his property from being damaged. I mean usually his in favor of oil drilling everywhere else, so what makes Florida different? I think it is simply because he lives there.
Austin V
12/1/2020 10:16:41
I was shocked to learn that the source of this ban but I am happy nonetheless to learn is was extended so far out. That makes me happy and I think the long term effects will get noticed by those that need to see it too. I do think things like this are a push to find better sources of energy that are good for the environment.
Grace Komrska
12/1/2020 10:20:41
I had no idea that Trump had banned any offshore drilling in Florida so I am glad you covered it Erika! I am truly curious to what his motives were cause as you mentioned President Trump is not one to stand up for our environment. It would be sad if he used it as a political scheme for the election because the environment should always be the number one priority.
Molly McKeon
12/1/2020 10:23:43
This is really interesting! I would have thought offshore drilling would be something that Trump would have resumed or lifted the ban on so that the oil reserves in the oceans could be tapped in to. I know the large oil companies receive lots of subsidies from the government and that helps keep our gasoline prices low in the US. I wonder if there is some sort of ulterior motive behind that decision. We all know the oil companies are probably in his back pocket feeding him money anyway.
Brielle M
12/1/2020 20:43:22
I found this article to be highly interesting for a couple of reasons. The first being that in 2018, Trump actually put forth a plan to expand offshore drilling rather than halt it completely. He wanted to expand the drilling all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. This would have been extremely damaging and toxic to the marine and wildlife located in these areas, and would have caused mass extinction of multiple species dependent on these regions. Remember the Shell oil spill in 2016? They dumped 88,000 gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It was horrible! And Trump proposed his offshore drilling plan merely two years later. The only positive that would have come from doing something like this would be purely acquisitive, as it would have lowered fuel prices.
Elizabeth Carlson
12/7/2020 19:25:16
This article is pleasantly surprising! I for sure though Trump was going to go forward with his ideals to expand off-shore drilling. After all we all know he is not one to be an environmental steward. I am pleased, even if it was for a political agenda, that he chose to continue the ban of off-shore drilling in Florida for 10 more years. Leave a Reply. |
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