North Carolina’s Governor Says Offshore Drilling Should Be Closer To Beaches

[KamaAina]

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/16/3647737/offshore-drilling-at-the-beach/

A new federal proposal to allow offshore oil drilling from Virginia to Georgia is receiving some pushback from North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, who on Wednesday said drilling should be allowed even closer to his state’s renowned beaches and fishing grounds than is currently being considered.

Testifying before a House of Representatives panel on energy and mineral resources, McCrory first hailed the Obama administration’s offshore drilling plan for the Atlantic as an economic boon. But he then decried the proposal’s inclusion of a 50-mile “buffer zone” — an area where drilling is not allowed to occur — designed to reduce conflicts with other coastal industries like tourism and fishing, and mitigate impacts on coastal wildlife. The buffer zone would extend from Georgia’s southern border to Virginia’s northern limit.

In his testimony, McCrory criticized the buffer zone as putting too much of the offshore resources “under lock and key.” Similarly, in a recently publicized letter to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, McCrory requested that the protective buffer be shrunk to just 30 miles, to allow drilling to occur 20 miles closer to North Carolina’s beaches than they would be under the Obama administration’s plan....

Meanwhile, the coastal communities that would be closest to offshore drilling activity in North Carolina are registering a different opinion. The governments of 16 of the state’s coastal cities and towns have passed resolutions opposing offshore oil exploration and development activities, as have the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce and the Dare County, North Carolina, Tourism Board. In March, a federal hearing on Atlantic drilling in Kill Devil Hills drew what a Department of Interior spokeswoman called the largest crowd in the ocean energy agency’s history, the majority of whom opposed offshore oil development.

Sorry, OBX-lovers.

[NCarolinawoman]

1. And this stupid governor is already low in popularity.

He needs to go back to Ohio where he came from, and enjoy the beautiful clean waters of Lake Eerie.

No offense to the fine DUers from Ohio. I went to school there, and still have many good friends who live there. I am also envious of Ohio in having the great senator Sherrod Brown. Our senators are horrible.

But I have to say, Governor McGrory , leave our beautiful beaches and the Atlantic ocean and all it's sea creatures alone!!! Go away, Governor!

[ladyVet]

2. Fantastic.

Because who needs clean beaches and wildlife, when there's a rich man's pockets to fill?

If the citizens of this state don't vote that idiot out, I give up.