Logical Reasoning

PT111 · S3 · Q8 Opponent of offshore oil drilling

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Opponent of offshore oil drilling: The projected benefits of drilling new oil wells in certain areas in the outer continental shelf are not worth the risk of environmental disaster.

Opponent's Conclusion

The projected benefits of drilling new oil wells are not worth the risk of environmental disaster.

Evidence

The oil currently extracted from these areas provides only 4 percent of our daily oil requirement, and the new wells would add just one-half of 1 percent.

Proponent's Reply

That's as dumb as saying we shouldn't allow new farms, since no single farm could feed the country even for a day.

Evaluate

We need to respond to the proponent. The proponent counters with an analogy, arguing that just because a new oil well contributes a small amount to overall oil supply, it doesn’t mean it should be dismissed, just as new farms, which don't provide the entire food supply, shouldn't be prohibited.

To weaken the drilling proponent's reply, we should look for a flaw in this analogy or a reason why the analogy doesn't hold.

Goal

Let's find an answer that highlights a dissimilarity between offshore oil drilling and starting new farms, or shows why the proponent's analogy is misleading or flawed.

Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the drilling proponent's reply?

Correct
New farms do not involve
Why this is right
New farms do not involve a risk analogous to that run by new offshore oil drilling. This answer weakens the proponent’s analogy by pointing out a significant difference. While new oil drilling carries significant environmental risks, new farms do not pose a comparable risk. Thus, this key difference undercuts the analogy.
Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
88% picked this
Many of the largest oil
No Impact
No one was ever suggesting that where we drill for oil and where we farm are the same place. The proponent used farming as an analogy, but wasn't suggesting that farming involves overlapping parcels of land.
1% picked this
Unlike oil, common agricultural products
No Impact
This is somewhat tempting, because it also seems to disrupt the oil / farm analogy, but the distinction has less to do with arguing that we shouldn't allow new drilling. Nutritional needs and fuel requirements are both very important things to a functioning society, so even though that's a difference between oil and farms, it doesn't hurt the proponent's analogy. He could say, "Since farming and oil drilling both provide very important things to a functioning society, and since no one farm or drilling field will be enough to support society on its own, we should approve new farms and new drilling fields."
4% picked this
Legislation governing new oil drilling
No Impact
This is somewhat tempting, because it also seems to disrupt the oil / farm analogy, but the distinction has nothing to do with arguing that we shouldn't allow new drilling. We weren't ever saying we shouldn't allow for new drilling because "the legislation isn't thoroughly enough articulated". We were saying we shouldn't allow it because of the potential environmental damage.
1% picked this
The country under discussion imports
Irrelevant Comparison
This also presents a difference relating to oil vs farms, but we don't care about the ratio of domestic to imported oil is higher or lower than the ratio of domestic to imported farm products. The proponent was never thinking both products had a similar domestic/imported ratio. The proponent is only saying, "since no one farm is enough to supply our needs, we should approve new farms. Similarly, since no one oil field is enough to supply our needs, we should approve new oil fields."
6% picked this

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