John Parker has lived in New York City his entire life. He attended Public School 6 for elementary school. He then attended Wagner Middle School and the James Baldwin High School. He is currently a student enrolled at Hunter College in the Urban Studies Bachelor degree program with a minor in Geography. He would like to eventually earn a Master degree in Urban Planning. He has worked for the New York City Parks Department as a seasonal lifeguard since 2009 and is currently working with them as an intern. He would like to apply his Urban Studies degree to work with the New York City Parks Department in planning. He feels the Parks Department has the power to set examples for environmental sustainability through comprehensive planning. His personal interests include birds, piano, swimming, drawing, and cooking. He enjoys traveling and has visited Puerto Rico, Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. He is interested in the initiatives that New York City has been making to decrease its pollution output such as PlaNYC and urban farming. He is interested in the United States Green Building Council LEED rating system and its future implications for New York Cities environmental regulation enforcement. He is looking forward to the future developments of environmental policy in New York City.
Offshore Drilling Operations and their Effect on the Environment: Production Profits or Environmental Protection
Abstract:
Marine oil spills occur due to accidents while transporting oil by water or when extracting oil from underwater and cause pollution. Marine oil spills are often the result of lenient regulations and negligent operations that are common in the offshore oil industry. The largest oil spill in history occurred on the 22nd day of April in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico due to an accident while extracting oil from deep in the ocean and is known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Oil was being extracted from the bottom of the ocean in a United States exclusive economic zone for the multinational oil company known as BP by using a floating oil rig which was built by a Korean company named Hyundai Heavy Industries and owned by one of the worlds largest offshore drilling contractors named Transocean. There was an explosion on the floating oil rig which caused oil to flow directly into the deep ocean for eighty-seven days. The oil spill effected a large area of the marine environment. Investigation into the incident determined it would not have occurred if the required safety precautions were executed. The United States government and other authorities responded by holding the companies involved responsible for the clean up and recovery of the marine ecosystem as well as compensating the communities and people effected. Changes in regulation were also made as a result of operation failures that contributed to the incident. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an international pollution issue that can provide insight into the process in which federal and local agencies hold multinational companies accountable for pollution.
Keywords: off shore drilling operations; effect on the environment; production profits; environmental protection; regulation consideration; Gulf of Mexico; Deepwater Horizon; oil spill; federal government
