Week 7 5/05
Reviewed Chapter 14 and 15.  One takeaway from the class that I found interesting was the depictions of the generations and that my twins are considered "Plurals".  How ironic!

Executive Summary:

U.S., Mexico Sign Deal on Oil Drilling in Gulf

The article is referencing that the U.S. and Mexico have come to an agreement to allow drilling for oil and gas. The agreement establishes a legal framework for U.S. companies to develop offshore energy projects with Petroleos Mexicanos which is the Mexican State oil company known as Pemex. The projected area is on more than one and a half million acres in the Gulf of Mexico which runs due east from the United States – Mexico border. It also spans to a point more than two hundred miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River and includes areas where the water is almost eleven thousand feet deep. This area is projected to contain as much as one hundred seventy two million barrels of oil and three hundred four billion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

            A key concept that we have discussed in class that relates to this article is ethics. This agreement will allow United States and Mexican safety officials to work together to ensure the projects meet the safety standards of both nations. In regards to ethics, it is important that we learn from past mistakes such as the April 2010 Deep water Horizon accident off of Louisiana. Safety measures that were in place and bypassed cost eleven people their lives and billions of dollars in environmental cleanup not to mention the economy as a whole because goods and services were not available along the Gulf coast during this time.

            Prior to this class I would not have been in favor of this agreement because of the implications it might have on the environment. But seeing how this can have a positive effect on the economy by creating jobs and possibly lowering gas prices by having more supply on hand, I embrace this decision moving forward.