Text I Oil Overview The oil industry has a less-than-stellar environmental record in general, but it becomes even worse in tropical rainforest regions, which often contain rich dep

Text I

Oil

Overview

The oil industry has a less-than-stellar environmental record in general, but it becomes even worse in tropical rainforest regions, which often contain rich deposits of petroleum. The most notorious examples of rainforest havoc caused by oil firms are Shell Oil in Nigeria and Texaco in Ecuador. The operations run by both companies degraded the environment and affected local and indigenous people by their activities. The Texaco operation in Ecuador was responsible for spilling some 17 million gallons of oil into the biologically rich tributaries of the upper Amazon, while in the 1980s and 1990s Shell Oil cooperated with the oppressive military dictatorship in Nigeria in the suppression and harassment of local people.

Action

The simplest and most reliable way to mitigate damage from oil operations would be to prohibit oil extraction in the tropical rainforest. But that is unlikely given the number of tropical countries that produce oil and the wealth of oil deposits located in forest areas. Thus the focus is on reducing pollution and avoiding spills through better pipeline management, reinjection techniques, and halting methane flaring. Limiting road development and restricting access can help avoid deforestation associated with settlement.

Biofuels

The energy and technology sectors are investing heavily in alternatives to conventional fossil fuels, but early efforts to use crop-based biofuels have had serious environmental consequences.

While some believed biofuels—fuels that are derived from biomass, including recently living organisms like plants or their metabolic byproducts like cow manure— would offer environmental benefits over conventional fossils fuels, the production and use of biofuels derived from palm oil, soy, corn, rapeseed, and sugar cane have in recent years driven up food prices, promoted large-scale deforestation, depleted water supplies, worsened soil erosion, and lead to increased air and water pollution. Still, there is hope that the next generation of biofuels, derived from farm waste, algae, and native grasses and weeds, could eliminate many of the worse effects seen during the current rush into biofuels.

Efficiency

Good old-fashioned oil conservation is effective in reducing demand for oil products. After the first OPEC embargo in 1973, the United States realized the importance of oil efficiency and initiated policies to do away with wasteful practices. By 1985, the U.S. was 25 percent more energy efficient and 32 percent more oil efficient than in 1973. Of course the U.S. was upstaged by the Japanese who in the same period improved their energy efficiency by 31 percent and their oil efficiency by 51 percent. Today the importance of oil to the economy is still diminishing. Despite the 51 percent growth in the American economy between 1990 and 2004, carbon emissions only increased 19% suggesting that those who insist that economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions move in tandem are wrong.

Develop new technology

The developed world can seek alternative methods to oil exploration, by developing new technologies that rely less on processes that are ecologically damaging. For example, compressed natural gas is a cleaner-burning fuel than gasoline, is already used in some cars, and is available in vast quantities. Electric cars are potentially even more environmentally sound.

To encourage investment in research and development of “greener” technologies, governments can help by eliminating subsidies for the oil and gas industry and imposing higher taxes on heavy polluters. While governments will play a role in cleaner-energy development, it is likely that the private sector will provide most of the funding and innovation for new energy projects. Venture capital firms and corporations have put billions into new technologies since the mid-2000s, while corporations are getting on board as well.

As experiences with biofuels have shown, there are often downsides to alternative energy sources. For example, hydroelectric projects have destroyed river systems and flooded vast areas of forests. Thus when undertaking any large-scale energy project — whether it’s wind, solar, tidal, geothermal, or something else — it is important to conduct a proper assessment of its impact.

Conclusion

Admittedly, there are many challenges facing sustainable use of tropical rainforests. In arriving at a solution many issues must be addressed, including the resolution of conflicting claims to land considered to be in the public domain; barriers to markets; the assurance of sustainable development without overexploitation in the face of growing demand for forest products; determination of the best way to use forests; and the consideration of many other factors.

Almost none of these economic possibilities can become realities if the rainforests are completely stripped. Useful products cannot be harvested from species that no longer exist, just as eco-tourists will not visit the vast stretches of wasteland that were once lush forest. Thus some of the primary rainforests must be salvaged for sustainable development to be at all successful.

Available at: <http://rainforests.mongabay.com/1013.htm>. Retrieved on: Aug, 10^th, 2017. Adapted.

Text II

Aggressive oil extraction spells disaster for Amazon rainforests

The refineries in the US processed 230,293 barrels of Amazon crude oil a day in 2015, according to the study conducted by the Amazon Watch, an environmental group. The demand for crude oil in the US is forcing countries such as Peru, Colombia and Ecuador to expand their oil drilling operations and hence, driving the destruction of the rainforest ecosystem.

The Amazon rainforest has already become highly vulnerable to forest fires due to selective logging, hunting, altering or fragmenting the landscape and other forms of habitat degradation. As oil interests lead to aggressive extraction of oil, there are fears that indigenous communities will suffer displacement and acquire deadly illnesses due to lack of acquired immunity.

Layered impact on Amazon ecosystem

Mining and construction of hydroelectric dams, in what is considered the lungs of the world, have already triggered deforestation. The problem is getting even more confounded when ambitions of large oil firms, including some from China, have come to play its part. According to the study, the proposed oil and gas fields now cover 283,172 sq. miles of the Amazon.

Explaining the “triple carbon impact” of Amazonian oil extraction, the report says that copious amount of carbon is emitted when the rainforest is cut down to establish drill sites. Further destruction of the world’s largest carbon sink takes place when necessary roads and other infrastructure are constructed. More carbon emissions are experienced when the oil is ultimately burned for energy.

Ecuador

Ecuador’s state-run oil firm PetroAmazonas has started drilling close to the Yasuni National Park— one of the most biologically rich places in the world. It is home to 655 endemic tree species—more than the US and Canada combined—and two of the last tribes in the world. While extraction of 23,000 barrels of oil a day began in September, critics raise concern over a possibility of oil destroying Yasuní the way it caused widespread deforestation and pollution in rest of Ecuador and the western Amazon. Apart from the risk of water and soil contamination, the construction of roads deep into the forest would lead to hunting and deforestation. The environmentalists also fear an inevitable conflict for land between oil workers and the semi-nomadic tribes of Waorani Indians living within the park for generations.

Peru

The viability of oil production in Peruvian Amazon has been questioned time and again. In the past two months, the protest by Peruvian Amazonian indigenous communities against oil pollution on their lands has grown stronger. Till October, nine cases of pipeline spill have been reported.

The indigenous communities, who witnessed the latest pipeline spill on October 23, are now demanding a national debate on whether oil drilling should continue in the Peruvian Amazon that plays a crucial role in regulating global climate and hydrological patterns.

The protesters want a state of emergency to be declared in two districts of the lower Marañón Valley where five indigenous communities have been affected by a series of oil spills.

US increases crude oil imports from Amazon

While there has been an overall decline in US crude imports, the imports from the Amazon are on the rise. The US is now importing more crude oil from the Amazon than from any single foreign country. “Our demand for Amazon crude is driving the expansion of the Amazon oil frontier and is putting millions of acres of indigenous territory and pristine rainforest on the chopping block,” said Leila Salazar-López, executive director of Amazon Watch.

According to Adam Zuckerman, Amazon Watch’s End Amazon Crude campaign manager, “All commercial and public fleets in California—and many across the US—that buy bulk diesel are using fuel that is at least partially derived from Amazon crude.”

The report also revealed that California refines an average of 170,978 barrels of Amazon crude a day with the Chevron facility in El Segundo refining 24 per cent of the US alone. After crude is refined, it is distributed as diesel to vehicle fleets across the US.

Interestingly, California Environment Protection Agency, in 2015, made an unequivocal climate commitment, “In order to meet federal health-based air quality standards and our climate change goals, we must cut in half the amount of petroleum we use in our cars and trucks over the next 15 years.”

Available at: <http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/us-led-demand-driving-aggressive

-extraction-of-oil-in-amazon-rainforest-56149>. Retrieved on: Aug, 12^th, 2017. Adapted.

Text I refers to “conflicting claims to land”. In Text II there is an illustration to one of those claims.

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