Module 3 Writing Plan
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School
Southern New Hampshire University *
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Course
200
Subject
Philosophy
Date
Jan 9, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
4
Uploaded by MegaHeatCrab36
1.
The argument that I will be addressing in my essay is, should the Keystone XL Pipeline
have been stopped? Do the economic benefits outweigh the environmental consequences?
This relates to my major and field of study because a major side of the argument concerns
the environment and what consequences the pipeline would have on it. This argument is
also very interesting to environmentalists because it affects the topic of clean energy and
the United States reliability on oil.
a.
This topic is debatable because there are two clear sides to it. There is the
environmental side, which I will be taking in my paper, where the argument is that
the economic benefits of the pipeline are not worth the environmental damage it
will cause. This side believes that the pipeline should not be extended. The second
side of the debate is the economic side where the argument is that the economic
benefits are greater than the environmental consequences and therefore the
pipeline should be extended.
2.
a.
The audience that I will be writing to in my essay will be lawmakers. These are
people that are elected officials that hold power in deciding which projects get
approved and which do not. I will be trying to convince these lawmakers to
decline the expansion of the keystone pipeline.
b.
A challenge with supporting my argument to this audience is that lawmakers tend
to choose profit over environmental stability. This is due to lobbying done by
powerful business owners, many of which are involved in the fossil fuel industry.
Because of this, they may only focus on the economic benefits that I will be
mentioning for the opposing side of the argument instead of focusing on the
environmental consequences from my side of the argument.
3.
A goal that I have for writing this persuasive essay is to persuade lawmakers to take
climate change more seriously and consider the consequences that big oil projects have
on the environment. I hope to persuade lawmakers to put more emphasis on the
environment rather than money and business. To achieve this goal, I will have to
demonstrate to my audience that the environmental damage from this pipeline will be
devastating and would cause a large amount of harm to the planet. I will use quotations
from environmental experts, evidence of environmental damage from past oil spills, and
statistics from research surveys that show the general public’s opinion on the pipeline and
climate change. The will hopefully achieve my goal of informing lawmakers about the
dangers of climate change and oil spills and eventually convince them to create stricter
environmental laws.
4.
Three key points that will help support my argument are:
a.
Climate Change:
This will be helpful for my argument because the keystone
pipeline would support the fossil fuel industry which contributes greatly to the
amount of CO
2
in the atmosphere, a main cause of global warming.
b.
Public Opinion:
This will be helpful for my argument because in one of the
articles I found, findings from a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center are
reported which shows disapproval from a large majority of the population. These
lawmakers are elected officials and need votes to become reelected, in order to do
that they need to keep a majority of people on their side, and therefore, hopefully,
this will encourage them to vote with the public opinion and deny the pipeline
construction.
c.
Keystone oil spills in the past:
In the decade that the keystone pipeline has been
operating, there has been more than 20 oil spills. This will be helpful to my
argument because it demonstrates that the harm it will cause to the environment is
not just theoretical. It also shows that the pipeline is unreliable in terms of safety
for not only the environment but also to public health.
5.
a.
The grass is always greener: Keystone XL, transboundary harms, and guidelines
for cooperative environmental-impact assessment (authored by Wyatt Sassman)
This first resource is from the Shapiro library and describes the environmental impacts of
the keystone pipeline if it was to be fully completed. This source also describes ways that the
U.S. could adopt more environmental laws to conserve and protect the environment. It describes
the difference in environmental law between the U.S. and other countries and gives a way for the
U.S to close the gap and adopt more restrictive environmental laws. This source will be useful
for my argument because it talks about how the pipeline would have negative consequences on
the environment and also talks about how the U.S. is falling behind in environmental laws.
b.
Politics, proximity and the pipeline: Mapping public attitudes toward Keystone
XL (authored by Timothy B. Gravelle and Erick Lachapelle)
This source reports findings from surveys conducted on the American population
regarding views towards the pipeline. It describes what percentage of people support the
completion of the pipeline and what percentage of people disapprove of the pipeline. It also
reports why people disapprove/ approve of it. This source also touches on the economic benefits
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of the pipeline. This source will be useful for my argument because it will allow me to describe
how other Americans feel about the pipeline. It will allow me to make my argument sound more
factual than opinionated.
6.
I will effectively incorporate evidence into my essay by first introducing my points for
not supporting the pipeline and then following it with either quotes or statistics. I will
effectively use evidence of past oil spills to support my claims of it being damaging to the
environment. I will also effectively incorporate evidence by listing the other sides
argument regarding the economic benefit and then using evidence to either refute or
dismiss these claims with evidence of how the environmental damages will outweigh the
economic benefits.
7.
I unfortunately have not received feedback on my initial submission. This is due to me
uploading my assignment late. However, when I do receive feedback, I will use it to
strengthen my essay and would make any necessary changes to my writing plan if
needed.