The Ethics of Oil Production
Yilian Jiang ’25
Julia Liu ’26
The ethics of oil production have become an increasingly pressing and contentious issue in today’s globalized world, as the demand for energy resources collides with environmental concerns, human rights, and economic interests. This tension between maximizing profitability and upholding ethical environmental responsibilities only intensifies as oil companies expand their operations and governments attempt to regulate the industry.
The oil industry is one of the leading contributors to carbon dioxide emissions, posing a clear and imminent threat to the environment. The widespread use of oil, from powering transportation to generating electricity, emits detrimental amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. With the detrimental impacts of global warming becoming more apparent every year, environmentalists have become increasingly critical of unsustainable oil drilling practices, calling for the implementation of mandatory ethical guidelines to mitigate environmental harm. Rather than maintaining transparency and fostering open dialogue surrounding these concerns, leading oil and gas companies have instead assumed an ignorant facade and refuse to take accountability for their actions. Rather than pursuing measures to offset carbon emissions and research energy alternatives, these corporations have orchestrated climate change denial campaigns to protect the success of the industry–a move that is both a direct proponent of misinformation and an unsustainable practice (Science Direct, 2019).
With growing public exposure to these problematic ethics of oil production, future drilling projects have become focal points of contention in the media. A prime example is the Willow Project, a massive oil drilling venture planned for Alaska’s North Slope (CNN, 2023). Concerned about the project’s substantial ecological implications on Alaskan wildlife, environmental activists have been advocating for federal regulations on oil production and environmental protections to combat profit-driven industry objectives. Critics argue that, while the short-term profitability may appear favorable to oil drilling companies, the long-term environmental and social consequences can be enduring.
Similarly, the ethical consideration of oil production extends to the concept of “intergenerational justice”, or a country’s moral obligation towards the best interests of future generations (Taylor & Francis Online, 2019). If oil drilling persists at the excessive pace of our current situation, the consequential environmental detriments will become increasingly difficult to address for our posterity. Thus, society cannot turn a blind eye toward the future of the planet and continue to exploit natural resources to the point of irreversible environmental destruction.
While the petroleum industry is central to economic growth for members of the international community, countries must weigh short-term economic gain against long-term environmental costs when instating guidelines around oil production. Furthermore, oil and gas corporations must take accountability for their carbon footprint and conscientiously utilize their resources to invest in environmentally sustainable practices and research petroleum alternatives. Without these ethical considerations in place, the blatant neglect of nature’s preservation and the aspiration for an optimistic future will lead to profound and unforeseeable repercussions against humanity.
References
Hunnes, J. A. (2019, August 6). Full article: More planet and less profit? the ethical dilemma of an oil producing nation. Taylor &
Francis Online. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311975.2019.1648363
Nilsen, E. (2023, March 14). The willow project has been approved. here’s what to know about the controversial oil-drilling venture |
CNN politics. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/14/politics/willow-project-oil-alaska-explained-climate/index.html
Grasso, M. (2019, November 28). Towards a broader climate ethics: Confronting the oil industry with morally relevant facts. Energy
Research & Social Science. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629619306371
