Alejandra, Borunda. (October 4th, 2021) Why is California still drilling for oil despite its ambitious climate goals? Retrieved February 4th, 2022, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/why-is-california-still-drilling-for-oil-despite-its-ambitious-climate-goals

After the Huntington Beach oil spill, a lot of research has been put into the possible effects and immediate effects that have already occurred. After about 126,000 gallons of oil spread out across 13 square miles, this spill has already created a change in migration patterns for essential birds to the wetlands. The spill is expected to have worse effects than the 2015 Santa Barbara oil spill which had destroyed the surrounding areas for up to 2 years and stunning growth and still is stunning growth now. After being reviewed by Stanford, Californias oil has been determined the most expensive in ecosystem effects and just overall cost. The oil spill has brought up the question of why is California still drilling and the answer was that oil makes up about 1% of the state’s GDP which is a very large number. As Californians we can see the problem yet we are not seemingly assessing the root of the problem.

 

The first thing I found to be very crazy about this article is the facts and info it has brought in to show the amount of damage these spills cause and also this one. The fact that a previous spill has had such lasting effects and that this is an even larger spill concerns me. How long will these effects last for this time? Did we catch the spill in time? But I think these aren’t even the right questions, I think that we need to ask questions about how we are sourcing our oil and if it is worth it. The article even said that all of the oil that we produce ourselves is some of the most costly oil to extract and is that worth it. We could save the environmental damage and just ship it in, yes this means we still use oil but it means we don’t have to deal with spills. And with the shipping in of oil, it means it is more costly creating a want for change within energy sources. Here in California we aren’t known for our spills yet we get them very often still and they are very detrimental. I think the facts provided about the damage show we need to change and think of how to change fast.