Turner1 Jacob Turner Dr. Paul M. Anderson English 1010 03/19/14 Rhetorical Anal sis !

inal Dra"t Anal sis o" #A$erica%s !ossil !uel !e&er' (n the article #A$erica%s !ossil !uel !e&er') *ritten b Michael T. +lare and ,ublished in the March 19) -01- edition o" The Nation, the author e.,resses his &ie* on the /.0. de,endenc on oil and the dangers that co$e *ith it. 1e argues that A$erica%s de,endenc on oil is har$"ul in $an di""erent *a s. 1e states that our reliance on "ossil "uels greatl har$s the en&iron$ent) it "inances anti2 A$erican t rants and terrorists and threatens our national stabilit ) the use o" ne* technolog to access oil reser&es that *ere long belie&ed to ha&e been inaccessible *ill ield "ar less results than *hat is ,ro3ected and that go&ern$ent is not $a4ing rene*able clean resources and alternate energ sources a ,riorit . The author e.,lains that these ne* "ound uncon&entional oil reser&es *hich include dee, o""shore Arctic oil) shale oil) tar sand and bio"uels and li5uids obtained "ro$ coal and natural gas can onl be obtained through e.,ensi&e technolog $uch li4e the rigs used to drill in the gul" o" $e.ico. 1e states that an increase in arctic out,ut threatens the sur&i&al o" endangered land and sea creatures and that an increase in o""shore drilling e5uals a higher chance o" disasters such as the 6P oil s,ill. 1e also e.,lains that obtaining oil "ro$ the 7anadian tar sands *ould re5uire the construction o" the +e stone 89 ,i,eline *hich *ould s,an across the entire $id*est to re"ineries on the :ul" 7oast) causing $an en&iron$ental issues. 1e states that in order to e.tract shale gas and $eet their esti$ated increase in "uel ,roduction) co$,anies *ould ha&e to sin4 hundred o" thousands o" *ells across the /.0.) $an o" *hich *ould be densel ,o,ulated areas o" ;hio) Penns l&ania and <e* =or4 and that the *ould need to $assi&e 5uantities o" che$icall laced *ater into the underground shale "or$ations. 1e e.,lains that <ot onl *ould the drilling disru,t the co$$unities *ith increased noise

Turner and tra""ic) the to.ic che$icals used to e.tract the "uel could lea4 into underground a5ui"ers and it could end u, in the $unici,al *ater2treat$ent s ste$s *hich *ere not designed to handle the che$icals) not to $ention that e.tracting shale gas o"ten releases a large a$ount o" $ethane into the at$os,here *hich is a "ar $ore ,otent green house gas than carbon. 1e then tal4s about 6ra>il%s #,re salt' oil reser&es *hich are located beneath a $ile and a hal" o" ocean and t*o $iles o" sand) roc4 and shi"ting salt la ers. 1e states that the instabilit o" the underground salt strata increases the ris4 o" a blo*out li4e the Dee,*ater 1ori>on. 1e goes on to sa that all o" these $ethods o" e.traction are &er energ intensi&e and that the *ill lead to e&en $ore green house gas e$issions *hile ,rolonging the "ossil "uel era) greatl har$ing the en&iron$ent. (n his second argu$ent that our de,endenc threatens our national securit ) he states that increased reliance on do$estic "uels *ill still lea&e us &ulnerable to disorder in the Middle East due to the global nature o" the oil $ar4et and oil2,rice d na$ics. 1e also states that *e *ill onl beco$e $ore &ulnerable in the long run because these ne* technologies and e.traction $ethods *ill induce us to ,ost,one the ine&itable transition to a ,ostcarbon econo$ . 1e states the longer *e *ait to transition to rene*able) clean) alternate "uels) the $ore costl and trau$atic the transition *ill be. (n his third and "inal argu$ent that the go&ern$ent is ,utting the de&elo,$ent o" rene*able resources on the bac4 burner and that these technologies *ill ield "ar less results than esti$ated) he states that although ;ba$a announced $an ,rogra$s that *ould ,ro$ote the transition to cli$ate "riendl rene*able energ ) he directed his ad$inistration to o,en $ore than ?@A o" their ,otential o""shore oil and gas resources. 1e also e.,lains that e.tracting shale gas is hit or $iss in that the distribution o" e$bedded gas $olecules is &er une&en. A *ell that *as drilled near a ,ros,erous *ell $a turn u, little to no results. ( "eel that he has good ethos as he *rites articles "or a ne*s,a,er na$ed The Nation *hich ( ha&e "ound to be a $ostl de$ocratic ne*s,a,er. 1is article relies $ostl on logos as he uses $ostl

Turner 3 "acts to ,ersuade and in"luence his readers although ( "ound so$e o" his argu$ents to be lac4ing in "acts and $ostl based on s,eculation. ( did not "ind a lot o" ,athos although ( did "ind one e.a$,le earl on in his article *hen he uses the *ords #so $uch "or &ie*ing "ossil "uels as a serious threat to national securit ' *hich is a stab at ;ba$a *ho ca$,aigned that "ossil "uels *ere one o" the $ost serious threats to our national securit but he continues to o,en $ore o""shore drilling sites. Man o" the *ords he uses to describe "ossil "uels and their $ethods o" e.traction ha&e negati&e connotations "or e.a$,le #...and in3ect $a$$oth 5uantities o" che$icall laced *ater...') #irritants') #catastro,hic') #"raught *ith danger' and $ "a&orite #such an increase *ill erase an ho,e o" a&erting the a,ocal ,tic conse5uences o" ,lanetar *ar$ing.'. (n conclusion ( "eel that the author o&erall did a good 3ob and success"ull e.,ressed his &ie*s to the audience *ell.