Increasing demand for fossil fuels is requiring explore new sights in remote areas. While some believe that it may not only help to meet the current demand, but also may cause less air pollution in major cities, others argue that these benefits can be outweighed by drawbacks such as harming the environment and extinction of unknown species.
To some people, new mines in remote areas mean new sources of oil and gas. These people think that existing demand could be met by only offering more of the resources. Therefore, many people are in side with exploring untouched areas. Another reason why rural areas can be seen as a potential sight for digging mines is that they are far from major cities. The process of mining fossil fuels underground causes air pollution as oil and gas releases carbon dioxide during digging process. Many people, thus, tend to think that the far the mines are located, the less impact they have on air in cities.
People who are thinking in that way, however, ignoring the fact that the sky is not divided by invisible barriers that prevent polluted air reaching to the cities they are leaving one day or another. If even a small part of the environment is damaged, it may affect the whole system. That leads to my next point, the environment is not only consist of air and water. Many unknown species of animals and plants may inhabit in these untouched areas of earth. The effect of human activity may have severe damage on these inhabitants, and even may lead extinction of some.
For these reasons, many other people believe that the advantages of exploiting rural areas can be outweighed by disadvantages. In some cases, additionally, renewable energy sources are offered to take into consideration as a substitution for gas and oil as these renewable sources of energy do not poses any serious harm to the nature.
In conclusion, although there are some advantages of exploring rural areas for fossil fuels, these advantages can be outweighed by drawbacks, as the current demand for energy sources can be met by other means of resources.
