With the increasing demand for energy sources such as oil and gas should people be looking for sources of oil and gas in remote and untouched places Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages of damaging such areas

Over the past few decades, the economic growth caused by burgeoning industrialization has increased global demand for fossil fuels, among which oil and gas have been severely depleting at an alarming rate. The rapid exhaustion of fossil fuel reserves has led to the suggestion that people should be granted permission to extract crude oil and natural gas from faraway and uncharted regions. However, I think it unwise to follow this advice as the drawbacks of exploiting fossil fuels in isolated places outweigh its benefits.
There are two advantages of allowing companies to drill oil and gas wells in unexplored areas. First, this can temporarily reduce the great demand for fossil fuels and stabilize the international fuel prices. In the early 1970s, for example, the government of Saudi Arabia launched a commercial oil project whose aim was to exploit as many fossil fuel deposits as possible in some faraway and unexploited places. With the aid of advanced technology, this project successfully pumped more crude oil out of the ground, which in turn temporarily eased the global energy crunch. Second, excavating fossil fuels in remote territories can stimulate economic growth and increase employment. For instance, extracting and refining crude oil in some uncharted places of Alberta contributes substantially to the local economy. Not only does this heavy industry pay trillions of dollars in taxes to governments annually but it also offers local residents thousands of indirect jobs, including those in the fields of catering business, environmental management, engineering, accounting, law and communications. With more jobs available, Albertans are able to increase their salaries, and their financially secure life might further encourage consumption, which would definitely boost the local economy.
Nevertheless, there are two disadvantages of seeking oil and gas in untouched places. To begin with, exploitation of fossil fuels would pose a threat to ecology and environment. Lucrative as this industry is, it actually destroys wildlife habitats and contaminates our living environment. Take for example, a serious oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico several years ago. This accident caused by the wrong operation of oil drilling wreaked havoc on the marine ecosystem. A large amount of heavy metal and toxic oil leaking through the pipes polluted the ocean and killed many lives of marine creatures. Worse still, it would take a couple of years to recover the sea to its original condition. Aside from the problem of environmental devastation, the exploration of crude oil and natural gas in some regions would ratchet up the tension among the countries scrambling for fuel resources. This conflict is epitomized in the territorial disputes in the South China Sea. China, Brunei, the Philippines, and Vietnam have been long fighting for their control over the potential crude oil and natural gas in this area, with occasional skirmishes or military maneuvers sometimes reported. This means that the scramble for fuels could be a menace to national security.
Considering the environmental calamities caused by oil leaks and the military clashes among different countries, I argue that the drawbacks of extracting fossil fuels in remote and unexplored locations surpass the benefits. Indeed, this profit-driven activity not only stabilizes the supply and demand of oil and gas but also generates more job opportunities. However, the enormous prices we pay for the environmental destruction and national security are far from what we can afford. Given that environmental protection and international peace should be prioritized, it is unreasonable to exploit natural resources such as oil and gas in remote and untouched places.