Assignment #5

The Drowning Arctic Coastal Plain
Recently in political debates, and even local debates, gas prices and oil drilling has popped up to enforce controversy. Oil drilling has become a day-to-day routine for America since our gas prices are rising so much. A September issue "When will we realize we can't drill our way to cheap gas?" by Marty Essen has been marked powerful. Essen's article was very influential and has many back-ups to what he informs us. The audience is oil users, and the readers of the Buffalo News. And his over-all message is drilling oil in sacred environmental areas will not help the gas prices, but only destroy the world. The vast and beautiful land of Alaska and the ANWR should not be harmed and be taken advantage of.
Essen uses ethos to make points regarding to the Exxon Valdez oil spill a couple years ago. Not only did it harm the animals on land and sea, but it also cost millions of wasteful dollars to clean up. We could be using that money and put it somewhere where we really need it, like our national debt, for example. Even the oil tyrant, Exxon Valdez, can make mistakes that are drastic enough to cause Americans and our animals in a world of hurt. Also, he brings in President Bush and how he "manipulate Americans into supporting an energy policy that will lead to even greater oil industry profits". Essen shows Bush's unpopularity and how his administration is in the wrong mindset.
On another note, Essen uses the Gwich'in Athabascan Indians to back up his information. The Indians call the coastal plain the "sacred place where life begins". Indians are more in tune with the earth and know about its depths and its wonders. Harming this land will be a slap in the face for the Indians. The Indians say that a lot of the animals and birds are born or migrate in the oil drilling area. If this rate keeps on going, we won't have any birthing grounds or migrating fields for them to live in. Therefore, we will lose a lot of animals and the endangered species list will increase. ANWR should be treated with respect and be left alone.
Essen uses pathos to create an emotional appeal to reel his readers in. He quotes "the most patriotic thing an American can do is support freedom-from fossil fuels". There he questions our patriotism and makes us feel guilty if we do not support freedom from fossil fuels. In my opinion, I would be deeply affected by that quote since I am an American and I am free. I would want to support his quote and support the environment.
He also informs us about his personal experience when he went to visit Prudhoe Bay, a notorious oil field. He said "a sickening brown haze told us we were nearing Prudhoe Bay". That in there makes readers disgusted and appalled at his depiction of the Bay. We should not want our beautiful Alaskan wildlife and environment looked like that. Nevertheless, being dug up by construction workers to scrap up some oil for cars and other industrial objects. With that, he also brings in the wildlife affected by oil drilling. "We encountered caribou, songbirds, raptors, waterfowl, Arctic ground squirrels, lemmings, grizzly bears, and both red and Arctic fox". This citation indicates that there are multiple amounts of different animals living there that are being hurt by the oil drilling. To all the environmentalists and animal-lovers reading that, they would feel guilty and hurt by what is happening to them.
Lastly, he knocks it all down with logos. In one instance, he meets a driver pulling a huge boat. He claims he is bringing it to the Bay to water-ski. Clearly, Essen knows that is not the case. Later, the driver winks and says with his eyes "actually, we're bringing the boat up to do the oil exploration we weren't supposed to be doing". Essen used his logic to realize that anyone using a big boat like the driver would only be using it for oil drilling, and nothing of water-skiing. It shows how dishonesty and lying is used in every-day life from an average bloke, to the Bush Administration. Any American will use any tactic to get ahead in life and try and take their own oil to make gas cheaper. Also, when Essen and his wife were getting a tour of the oil field, the associates offered their guests to take a swim in the water. The couple looked at the "black guck alongshore-obvious remnants of a spill-and decided to stay dry". This could be one of the most influential topics to why we should stop oil drilling. The ocean is used in many different ways. Whether its oil spilling or oil drilling, we need to keep our world beautiful.
In conclusion, Marty Essen uses ethos, pathos, and logos to stop oil drilling in Alaskan regions. It affects wildlife, the Indians, and our economy, most of all. "Because oil prices are set on a global market, we can't drill our way to cheap gas", so why do it in the first place? Oil drilling achieves nothing, and hurts everything. At this rate, how will our world be in twenty years for our children to deal with? Essen's viewpoints are to the point and legitimate to persuade any oil user or Buffalo News reader.