Persuasive value speech-Andrea Hanson
Channel: Andrea Hanson
Date: 2015-11-05

Title: The Value of Pure, Clean Water.


Topic:  Pure and Clean Water That We Value.

Specific Purpose Statement:  Nebraska water and the cleanliness of that water for the people of Nebraska.

Thesis Statement: Nebraska’s water needs to stay clean and pure and everyone can help keep it that way. 

Introduction: Do you ever wonder what is in the water that you are consuming?  Neither do I.  It’s scary to think about what we could be putting into our systems while drinking water.  As people, we deserve clean and pure water to drink.  “Many challenges face Nebraskans when trying to protect this valuable resource. Runoff from rain and irrigation can carry chemicals and topsoil into streams in both urban and rural areas, causing surface water contamination,” states (Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality). Another issue that I am going to inform you about it the Keystone pipeline and its possible danger to the Ogallala aquifer. 


Body:

I.  What factors threaten water our water safety?
 A.  Irrigation can harm our drinking water from chemicals seeping into the ground.
 
              B.  The Keystone XL pipeline that could have a major effect on the Ogallala aquifer. “If the pipeline should spring a leak where it touches the aquifer or even above it, Kleeb and other opponents say, oil could quickly seep into and through the porous, sandy soil,” (Mufson, 2012).

 C.  Hydraulic fracturing contaminates underground water. “During hydraulic fracturing (fracking), large amounts of water, mixed with sand and chemicals, is injected underground to crack shale rock and release pockets of oil or natural gas,” states (Page, 2015.)
• Earthquakes 
• Out of state waste dumping into Nebraska. 

II.  How do these affect our water?

 A. When farmers irrigate they put out chemicals that get into the rivers and sometimes seep into the aquifer.
 
              B. They Keystone XL pipeline is going to sit right on top of the aquifer in some places just 5 feet over it which will lead to faster exposure of water contaminants. “TransCanada, which said it would bury the pipeline at least four feet underground, could in many places be putting it in water,” states (Mufson, 2012).

 C.  Fracking is contaminating our water from oil and gas extraction. “Weak safeguards and inadequate oversight have allowed oil and gas producers to run roughshod over communities across the country with their extraction and production activities for too long, resulting in contaminated water supplies, dangerous air pollution, destroyed streams, and devastated landscapes,” states (National Resources Defense Council).


III.  How can we make drinking water better for ourselves?
 A.  We can encourage farmers to make sure their water used for irrigation contains no pathogens or contaminants for our safety.
 
              B.  They Keystone XL pipeline is being built into the ground to close to the aquifer in some places.  The people building it could move it farther from the aquifer where it is higher to the surface. “Mike Johanns of Nebraska has asked the State Department to consider an alternate, more easterly route that would avoid it,” states (Song, 2011).
              
              C. As a group we can restrict fracking from areas so there will be no contamination and keep people healthy. We can also restrict them from going anywhere near water areas.

Conclusion:  The truth is, there will always be some factor affecting and damaging our water supply.  There isn’t a lot we can do about some things.  Without our water, obviously we would be in a great amount of danger and that is why we have to work for what we can change to protect the water that we value so much.  We are entitled to clean, pure water. 



References:

Nebraska Water Quality: A Brief Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2015, from http://www.deq.state.ne.us/YourEnvi.nsf/Pages/WQIntro 

Mufson, S. (2012, August). Keysone XL pipeline may threaten auquifer that irrigates much of the central U.S. Retrieved October 29, 2015. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/keystone-xl-pipeline-may-threaten-aquifer-that-irrigates-much-of-the-central-us/2012/08/06/7bf0215c-d4db-11e1-a9e3-c5249ea531ca_story.html

Page, S. (2015, March 30). During Fracking Hearing, Nebraskan Challenges Oil And Gas Commission To Drink Wastewater. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/03/30/3640422/nebraskan-says-frack-this/

National Resources Defense Counsel. Unchecked Fracking Threatens Health, Water Supplies. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2015, from http://www.nrdc.org/energy/gasdrilling/ 

Song, L. (2011, August 11). Keystone XL Primer: How the Pipeline's Route Could Impact the Ogallala Aquifer. Retrieved October 29, 2015, from http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20110811/keystone-xl-pipeline-route-ogallala-aquifer-nebraska-sandhills