Day: June 7, 2010

In the spirit of the notion that the unexamined life is not worth living, I’m starting to rethink my devout opposition to drilling in the arctic.

This may seem like an odd time to do so considering what’s gushing in the Gulf of Mexico.  How could I possibly reverse my position when we’re seeing what an oil spill can do to the environment and the creatures that live in it?  Okay, but…anywhere there’s an oil spill, the environment’s gonna get FUBARed, right?  Shouldn’t two major considerations be (a) accessibility to the source of the leak and (b) whether people are going to be impacted as well?  I mean, yeah, an oil spill in the arctic would be a terrible thing, but at least it would be way easier to fix it.  Wouldn’t it be BETTER for the environment overall because the damage would be minimized?  Plus you don’t have people’s lives and economies going down in oil-soaked flames.

Like I said, I haven’t decided yet.  But I’m starting to see the other side of it.  I know the negatives, and I agree that the best case would be developing alternative energies.  But if the current fiasco isn’t spurring development in that direction, I’m not entirely sure how cutting off another potential source of oil is gonna do it.

Feel free to convince me one way or the other.

PAD