Capital Wired

Keeps You Updated

Saturday, April 10, 2021
Log in
  • Headlines
  • Business
  • Health
  • Tech & Science
  • Sports
  • World
  • US
  • Latest News
    • How To Make Your Own Home-Brewed Morphine
    • Using Mouthwash Too Often Puts You at Risk of Obesity and Diabetes
    • Walmart to Solve its Supply Chain Issues and Further Cut Down on Costs
    • The World’s Most Expensive Christmas Decorations
    • Netflix Hopes to Balance Data Limit With Great Video Quality
    • Joji Morishita says Japan Will Resume Whaling
    • The Most Beloved Plastic Surgeries Among Americans
    • Skype for Web Allows Non-Users to Take Part In Its Online Chats

Pages

  • About Capital Wired
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Reprint & Licensing
  • Staff
  • Terms of Use

Recent Posts

  • Here’s Why Your Brain Keeps Worrying about Everything June 29, 2018
  • Don’t Throw That Sunscreen after Summer Is Up June 29, 2018
  • Analysts: Currency War between U.S. and China Might Be Looming June 28, 2018
  • Starbucks Rival The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Opening 100 Shops June 27, 2018
  • Study Finds We Are Alone in the Universe June 26, 2018
  • Restaurant Owner Not Sorry for Booting Sarah Sanders June 26, 2018
  • Beware of the Hidden Salt in Your Food! June 25, 2018

Feds Give Shell the Green Light to Resume Arctic Drilling Operations

May 12, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Email, RSS Follow

Feds Give Shell the Green Light to Resume Arctic Drilling Operations

On Monday, the federal government gave Shell the green light to resume its drilling operations off the coast of Alaska, although both the company and federal bureaucrats were flooded with conservationist messages on the dangers drilling operations in the area may imply.

“This decision places big oil before people, putting the Arctic’s iconic wildlife and the health of our planet on the line,”

noted Erik Grafe, an attorney at a non-for-profit law organization focused on environmental causes.

Shell’s oil and gas drilling operations off the coast of Alaska were put on hold in 2012 when a series of incidents threatened to lead to an ecological disaster in the already fragile area. In 2012, one of the company’s offshore drilling rigs ran aground on one of the state’s islands.

Conservationists criticized the company that its drilling plans were “risky and ill-conceived” from start, which could cause an environmental disaster in the Arctic. Also, Greenpeace activists criticized the federal government for failing to lead the country towards a “sustainable future” and for catering to the big oil industry’s interests.

Greenpeace noted that Shell is well-known for its reckless drilling which often edged disaster. Additionally, scientific community warned that drilling in the Arctic could have an even more devastating impact on global temperatures.

But officials from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management which ok-ed the company’s plans said that the government requested that the company would increase its protection standards in the critical ecosystem. The bureau reassured the public that drilling operations in the area would be subjected to “rigorous safety standards.”

But conservationists argued that such standards were useless without a proper assessment of the environmental and safety risks in the Arctic. Surprisingly, the federal agency admitted in its own Environmental Impact Statement that there was a 75 percent chance of one or multiple major oil spills in the area.

Environmentalists deemed the current environmental and safety assessments “rushed” and “incomplete.” They also said that the BOEM’s decision was at odds with the government’s official policy of tackling climate change by gradually moving to greener energy.

Activists also warned that Arctic Ocean drilling could lead to a much more severe ecological disaster than the one in the Gulf of Mexico five years ago. Back then, eleven people died and about 5 million of barrels of crude reached the ocean.

Shell indirectly replied to accusations by saying that it won’t resume Arctic drilling operations before it had fully tested and prepared its contractors and tools for a safe exploration of the area. The company disclosed that it would start drilling this summer.

The Anglo-Dutch oil giant also deemed the federal decision a major milestone that underscored the “confidence” regulators had in its plans.

Three years ago, Shell’s drilling operations in the Arctic were suspended after a series of incidents threatened the local ecosystem – a piece of safety equipment failed to work properly and a drilling drill suddenly ran aground. Shell’s contractor was fined $12 million. But although the oil company tried to resume operations in the following years, it failed due to legal issues.

Image Source: Soi Delegation

Email, RSS Follow

Rebecca McGhee

Rebecca McGhee is a valuable contributor for several publications and online platforms. Having graduates with a degree in Computer Science, her interest lies mostly in this area. Yet, she finds any tech-related topic or scientific topic is a challenge worth meeting. She enjoys turning her own research projects in worthy contributions that reach the large public. And mostly, she is grateful for all the feedback she receives from readers, as she believes it aids her in permanently improving her style of writing, beyond the scientific style she is accustomed to.

Filed Under: Business

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Articles

dc logo on black galaxy background

Ava DuVernay to Direct DC’s New Gods Adaptation

March 16, 2018 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

leonardo davinci's signature in black

Is DaVinci’s Record Breaking Painting Authentic?

November 20, 2017 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

stephen hawking

Stephen Hawking Makes Gloomy Prediction For Earth In A 100 Years

May 7, 2017 By Deborah Nielsen Leave a Comment

"Dwayne Johnson not dead"

Dwayne Johnson Died this Week or Not

January 19, 2016 By Jason Leathers 3 Comments

There Are At Least Three More Seasons of Game of Thrones To Go

July 31, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Homelessness Soars in L.A., Officials Pledge to House Everybody by 2016

May 12, 2015 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

FBI Releases National Report on Slain Police Officers, Figures are Alarming

May 12, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

New York Nuclear Plant Partially Shut Down due to Hudson Oil Slick

May 11, 2015 By Jason Leathers 2 Comments

Obama Draws Heat from Democrats over Asia Trade Deal

May 9, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Florida Governor Changes Stance on Obamacare Once More, Budget on Hold

May 9, 2015 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

Secret Service to add an Extra Layer of Spikes to White House Fence

May 8, 2015 By Chen Lai Leave a Comment

Police Arrested Suspect in death of Student who tried to Sell Car on Craigslist

May 8, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen 1 Comment

AccuWeather.com: 2015 Atlantic Tropical Storm Season is Officially Open

May 7, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen Leave a Comment

Illinois Student Found Dead after Trying to Sell his Car on Craigslist

May 7, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen 2 Comments

Related Articles

  • The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf coffee shop

    Starbucks Rival The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Opening 100 Shops

    Jun 27, 2018
  • People dating online

    Tinder’s Parent Company Buying Sizable Stake in Tinder Rival

    Jun 21, 2018
  • Walmart store

    Arizona Man’s Fake Returns Cost Walmart $1.3M

    Jun 18, 2018
  • Google office in Spain

    Hispanic and Black Workers More Likely to Leave Google

    Jun 15, 2018
  • Amazon headquarters

    Seattle Backpedaling on ‘Head Tax’ amid Amazon Pressure

    Jun 12, 2018
  • North Korea lead Kim Jong-un

    North Korea Could Turn to Cryptocurrencies to Fend Off Sanctions

    Jun 6, 2018
  • Seattle skyline

    Seattle Passes Controversial Head Tax on Companies Making 20M/Year

    May 17, 2018
  • Call blocker

    FCC Hands Out Its Biggest Robocalling Fine to Date

    May 11, 2018
  • French flag blowing in the wind.

    California Man Fighting France over ‘France.com’ Domain

    Apr 30, 2018
  • Subway restaurant

    Subway Shutting Down 500 More Locations in the U.S.

    Apr 26, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Headlines
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Tech & Science
  • US
  • World

Copyright © 2021 capitalwired.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact