Anwr_Drilling

Section 10-For drilling in ANWR from a utilitarian perspective Responsibly drilling in ANWR is clearly the most ethical alternative from a utilitarian perspective. By drilling, it allows us to increase the overall happiness of millions of people. The alternative of not drilling only increases or maintains happiness for a small number of people. Continuing to rely on foreign sources of oil and not using our resources here could have devastating effects for many people and for many generations into the future. The current residents of the state of Alaska receive the greatest amount of positive utility by allowing there to be drilling in ANWR. Citizens of Alaska would greatly benefit financially and economically. Citizens of Alaska receive dividends from all of the oil production that takes place in their state . Allowing the drilling would give them an increased source of income that would mean thousands of dollars each year per family. This increase in income provides positive utility that far outweighs any negative utility that they may receive due to the change in the landscape. It is likely that most of the citizens will never see any negative effects by allowing drilling to take place. Drilling has advanced so much that the change to the landscape would account for less than .5% of the land in ANWR . Such a small footprint would have a very low negative utility on any Alaskan residents. Also, the proposed areas of drilling are not heavily populated and almost uninhabitable4. There is almost no positive utility to any of the residents by not using the resources of the land. In fact, drilling is supported by nearly 75% of all Alaskan residents3. Among the Alaskan residents every single governor, every congressman, and nearly every single member of the Alaska state legislature have supported drilling in the ANWR region2. They support drilling because of the positive utility that they receive through exploration and drilling. The future residents of the state of Alaska also receive a tremendous amount of positive utility through the drilling for oil in ANWR. They will receive a great amount of happiness through receiving dividends from drilling as well as the economic boom the area would receive through drilling. It is estimated that 250,000-750,000 jobs would be created through the exploration and drilling the ANWR coastal plain2. The positive utility to these future residents and future oil workers is very high. They receive positive utility through their jobs and incomes that allows them to support their families. These potential oil workers also extend outside of the state of Alaska. There are many other people that receive positive utility through working in areas such as other oil byproducts and plastics. The positive economic impact of this increases the happiness for thousands, if not millions of people. Taxpayers also receive a great amount of positive utility. The increased tax revenue and the increase in jobs make a lot of people very happy. The increase in federal income could top as much as $200 billion for lease rentals, royalties, and taxes2. The positive utility from this income is huge. Increased funding for alternative energy research, more revenue for government programs, and a lowering of the trade deficit and debt give positive utility to millions of people within the United States. Right now, the United States imports moer than 60% of its oil from other countries. This is the largest single contributor to our national debt and accounts for over $400 billion dollars each year2. The drilling and exploration in ANWR in the cases of revenue and lowering the national debt replaces negative utility with positive utility for millions of people making its impact on people’s happiness very high and extremely positive. The largest group of people receiving positive utility from drilling and exploration in the ANWR region are current and future consumers of oil and gas. The oil extracted from the drilling could have a positive impact on the price of gasoline5. The impact will be positive because it will lower the price that millions of people pay for gasoline every day. Increasing the supply of oil does affect the price of oil. Even if the price of oil is not reduced dramatically, it will make it so that there is not an increase in price like we have continued to see in the past. Lowering the price of gas or allowing the price to remain stable greatly increases the happiness of millions of people that buy gas on a daily basis. The positive utility of this also allows them to use their money on other needs and wants and expanding the positive impact on other people and business owners and shareholders. If the supply of oil is not increased, then prices will continue to rise as well as the price of many goods and services. Drilling in ANWR gives a positive utility by lowering or maintaining current prices for many goods and services. This positive utility far outweighs the negative utility of any change to the landscape or minimal to no impact on the environment or the local Alaskan wildlife. One of biggest arguments against drilling in ANWR is the negative utility that it would give the Alaskan wildlife. I don’t think that it can be argued that drilling would provide an overall positive utility, but that the negative utility would be almost negligible. In the other areas in Alaska where drilling has been allowed, the wildlife has thrived. In the Prudhoe Bay area only 55 mile west of the ANWR region oil drilling is allowed. The caribou population migrates directly through that area. They have grown from a population of only 5,000 in the 70’s to over 32,000 animals today3. This can hardly be seen as negative utility. The truth is that the negative utility to any animals or wildlife is very low or even non-existent. The positive utility to the people of Alaska and the United States can far outweighs any negative utility that may exist towards any wildlife. Other groups that receive a negative utility from drilling in the ANWR include visitors to the ANWR region and environmentalists. For this group of people, any change to the landscape of the area would result in unhappiness. This creates a lot of negative utility for this group. However, this group is very small compared to others who would receive positive utility through drilling. In fact, only 1,000-1,500 people visit the refuge each year4. In comparison to the amount of people that would receive positive utility, the positive utility still far outweighs the negative utility giving the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest amount of people through drilling. The citizens of other oil producing countries will probably not see much of an effect either way. The demand for oil will likely continue to rise and not affect their utility. This will also not affect any oil workers that are in those countries either. The same can be said for the members of OPEC. They will still produce most of the world’s oil, and with so much demand coming from China, there will likely not be any change in their utility. Based on all of the stakeholders, the greatest positive impact to the greatest number of people comes from allowing responsible drilling in the ANWR region. Continuing to not allow drilling provides happiness to very few people and to even fewer that have a major stake in the issue. The largest and most impacted groups are the current and future residents of Alaska along with taxpayers in the United States and consumers of oil and gas. All of these groups receive a highly positive utility by allowing drilling to take place. This makes this the most ethical decision and produces the greatest happiness overall