Opening Offshore Oil Drilling Off Coast of North Carolina Will NOT BE POPULAR

[Blackhatjack]

A large part of the economy of NC depends on Tourism. Already being subject to Hurricanes, oil spills could be expected if offshore drilling is allowed.

All you have to do is look at the oil spills in Alaska and elsewhere to appreciate the damage that could be done to environmentally sensitive outer banks and the coastline.

And all for a small amount of oil that might be found there.

THis is not going to be popular and will likely be fought tooth and nail by North Carolinians just like the Navy's attempt to site a landing strip in the environmentally sensitive northeastern portion of the State of NC.

[cornermouse]

1. Off shore drilling is a republican policy.

Why is he doing this?

[AnOhioan]

2. Answered your own question it would seem

[taterguy]

3. Because people like to drive

Don't know the specifics about the NC plan.

Seems like a really bad place.

Thanks to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore that was enacted in the 1950s there are miles and miles of some of the most pristine beaches on the East Coast. It would be a shame to have them fucked up by oil.

[supernova]

15. Haven't seen anything

show up on the local news yet about a response to this.

[Johonny]

20. It takes the issue away from them and turns it into a local issue

Nationally off shore drilling is popular. But in the coastal regions particularly of blue states it is very unpopular. Thus he steals an issue from someone in Kansas but has created an issue to drive liberals to the polls in coastal states. It's probably a good political strategy but not a good national policy. Of course the repubicans will just lie about the issue anyways so...

[Neecy]

31. I live in Kansas

...and I've never heard anyone in my town advocating for offshore drilling.

But do you know what gets them really excited? A huge wind farm is being built in an adjoining county. It's brought good-paying jobs to my town - the kind of jobs that disappeared in the last 30 years - and there's a real possibility that it'll reduce our sky-high rural energy bills. It's also bringing a boost to local businesses.

This is the kind of real 'change' that makes people sit up and notice. They don't give a shit here about offshore drilling - but they're thrilled by a green wind farm. Funny how immediate benefits work, isn't it?

[Island Blue]

4. Do you have a link?

This is a VERY bad idea. A portion of the coast of North Carolina is called The Graveyard of the Atlantic for a reason. I live on the Outer Banks and we fought like hell about 15 years ago to prevent Mobile Oil from drilling off the coast. Things are a bit different now and that scares me. There are fewer environmentalist around here - the flood gates from up north opened about 10 or 15 years ago, and with it came a flood of rich, northern Republicans. (Yes they do exist, and they apparently all live here.) There is a very strong Tea Party contingency in the area now and I'm sure they would like nothing more than to drill, baby, drill.

This is a really bad idea.


edited for grammar.

[AndyA]

5. It's the lead story on MSNBC.com

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36110038/ns/business-oil_and_energy/

Seems like a really bad idea to me. An environmental disaster waiting to happen.

I'll add this one to the transparency, torture, wars, and all the other things that Obama is doing that seem so very Republican.

Strange...I didn't think I was voting GOP in 2008. :shrug:

[Island Blue]

6. Thanks for the link.

[mmonk]

7. It will be fought tooth and nail. I doubt big oil will be able to do it,

even with government consent.

[dipsydoodle]

8. Would be even worse

if plans / considerations to mine methane hydrates from the ocean floor proceeded. Could destabilize the continental shelf.

edit to add : http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/energy/eng-46.cfm

I thought I'd better add that 'case someone thought I made it up.

[Mudoria]

9. Hard to believe that the President would endorse this..

the Outer Banks is a national treasure if you ask me. I'd hate to see it spoiled with oil all over the sand.

[arcadian]

19. It literally is.

Most of it is protected as a National Seashore

[Lance_Boyle]

26. That's the forward-thinking strategery, right there.

Building America's energy future on the promise of newly-made oil sands, right here at home! :sarcasm:

[Individualist]

30. It isn't hard for me to believe; Obama has admitted he's a New Democrat.

[Nikki Stone1]

10. Didn't know that about North Carolina

Wow. What is the reaction in the NC papers?

[Lex]

11. Obama won NC in 2008. This is a good way to lose it for sure in 2012.

And besides that, it really solves nothing in the long run.

[Boxcar Johnson]

12. I agree

Ultimately it's a boondoggle that will only fatten the coffers of the drilling corporations.

[Gin]

14. same here in Va beach...big tourist area...this won't be popular

hurricanes are also an issue here

[supernova]

13. Even the most rabid GOP supporter I know

doesn't want to see oil derricks from Topsail Beach, which is why I think PB said it was OK. It will never happen. People won't go for it.

edit: As a strategy, I wish he hadn't done it, but only time will tell if it will work.

[DainBramaged]

16. Well, then we can just continue to buy oil from the Middle East since NIMBY

is the policy everywhere. But make sure when gas is $4+ you let our President know you are unhappy!!!!!!


There is NO easy solution until renewables come on line in the next generation, NO EASY SOLUTION. But, let's declare Obama a Reagan clone since he appears to not care about the future of America, only his buddies who he plans to enrich at our expense........ :sarcasm:

[Blackhatjack]

18. Renewable energy will be far advanced BEFORE a drop of oil is drilled off NC's coast AND...

... as long as those oil and gas leases are signed away to oil companies there won't be any incentive for them to ratchet up their development and distribution of renewable energy.

And if there is a major oil spill there won't be any easy fix to restore the environment that drives our tourism income, not to mention sensitive areas would undoubtedly suffer permanent losses that NC has worked to protect for over a century.

[DainBramaged]

37. Really? Hydrogen powered vehicles, refilling stations, wind solar

and wave developed to a point where more than a few thousand home are affected???

I don't think so. Long after I take a dirt nap, we'll still be depending on fossil fuels.

[joeybee12]

29. A tiny conservation push would eradicate this need to drill...your infallible Pope,

I mean President, is wrong yet again.

[DainBramaged]

36. First, you are insulting, second, since Obama is the President, what we think means shit anyway

He's proven that.


Merry Christmas..............

[taterguy]

38. Or we could all make a conscious effort to not drive when we don't have to

I have no doubt that we waste far more oil than we'll ever be able to exploit off the coast of NC.

But of course we'll never be able to agree on the definition of waste.

[DainBramaged]

39. Waste; you trying to tell me what's good for me

:eyes:

[taterguy]

40. The issue isn't what's good for you, but what's good for the planet

Oh wait, I forgot that what's good for your employer is good for the planet.

:eyes: X 2!

[Blackhatjack]

17. Tourism contributed $16.5 BILLION to NC's Economy ... LINK

North Carolina Department of Commerce
Travel in North Carolina generated more than $16.5 billion in tourism-related expenditures, an increase of 8.3 percent over the previous year. ...
www.nccommerce.com


And don't forget the value of tourism in Federal dollars

"Natural open space supports fishing, hunting, and other wildlife-based tourism. Sport fishing alone boosted the nation's economy by $108.4 billion in 1996, supporting 1.2 million jobs and generating household income of $28.3 billion.

Sport fishing added $2.4 billion to state tax coders--nearly 1 percent of all state tax receipts--while contributing $3.1 billion in federal income taxes.66 Another $85.4 billion is generated for the U.S. economy each year by people who feed birds or observe and photograph wildlife."


http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=1154&folder_id=727

[Blackhatjack]

21. 10 Senate Democrats oppose climate bill if it expands coastal drilling ...LINK

10 Senate Democrats oppose climate bill if it expands coastal drilling

By RENEE SCHOOF - McClatchy Newspapers

"WASHINGTON -- Ten Senate Democrats from coastal states warned in a letter released Thursday that they won't support a climate and energy bill if it permits a big expansion of drilling for offshore oil and natural gas.

The 10 generally are viewed as inclined to vote for a bill to cut the heat-trapping emissions from the use of coal, gas and oil.

Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, are trying to draft bipartisan legislation that is capable of getting the 60 votes needed in the Senate to overcome a filibuster, but they haven't unveiled it.

The letter, sent Tuesday to Kerry, Graham and Lieberman, is the latest example of how some of the compromises expected in the legislation trouble supporters of environmental protection. Expanded oil and gas drilling is part of the Republican energy platform and essentially has been endorsed by President Barack Obama.

The 10 senators warned that expanded offshore drilling could put their states at risk from oil spills, threatening fisheries, tourism and a "national treasure that needs to be protected for generations to come."

MORE

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/03/25/407009/10-senate-democrats-oppose-climate.html?storylink=misearch#ixzz0jleHD9Nm

[Blackhatjack]

22. Offshore drilling would have no significant impact on gas prices UNTIL 2030.... LINK

"Energy Information Administration, part of the Department of Energy, has reported that oil and gas drilling on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico wouldn't have a significant impact on U.S. oil and natural gas prices until 2030. The best way to lower oil prices is through energy efficiency and conservation, the letter says."

MORE

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/03/25/407009/10-senate-democrats-oppose-climate.html?storylink=misearch#ixzz0jlfIS1nr

[Romulox]

23. NAFTA ain't popular here in Michi-tucky. You get over it. nt

[Blackhatjack]

24. You have no idea how many jobs will be affected by moving forward with offshore drilling off NC

Our tourism industry drives a large portion of our industrial base, and the elements of our environment are the magnets for business relocation to our state.

We won't 'get over it' I assure you.

Former NC Senator Repub Elizabeth Dole thought she would quietly OK the Navy siting a new fighter landing strip in our environmentally sensitive preserve in the NE portion of our State because it is lightly populated. Boy did she get a wake up call.... before you knew it, she was leading the opposition to it.

[Romulox]

25. Think about what you said. I, here in Michigan, have "no idea" how many jobs will be affected

Do you have any idea how many jobs have been affected here in Michigan by trade policy?

"Our tourism industry drives a large portion of our industrial base, and the elements of our environment are the magnets for business relocation to our state."

Just like manufacturing is in Michigan, you mean?

"We won't 'get over it' I assure you."

Perhaps it was a bad choice of words. You'll learn to accept it.

[Blackhatjack]

27. Go ahead ... tell me how much you know about jobs in NC? ... and our tourism?....

I made no such claim to knowledge about Michigan(even though we had family living in Detroit in the past).

And NO we will not 'learn to accept it.'

Our environment and history are unique and that is what drives our tourism, generates the dollars, and sustains the jobs and pays the taxes here.

It is a BIG DEAL... and has nothing to do with Michigan's problems, which we all recognize as disasterous.

[Romulox]

28. I know it feels like the world will rally when *your* ox has been gored.

My only point is that the reality is that this doesn't often happen.

[supernova]

32. He's not saying "the world" will; Blackhatjack is saying Tarheels will

Combo hornets' nest and Cat 5 hurricane world of hurt is a minimum of what a hopeful offshore driller can expect here.

[Blackhatjack]

33. We are caretakers of our historical sites and environment for the benefit of everyone ...

Once our lighthouses are destroyed, our pristine undeveloped beaches on the Outer Banks are ruined by oil spills, etc. they will be lost forever.

That is not 'our ox being gored' .... that is everyone's ox being gored.

There are some places on this earth that are so unique that they should be preserved for generations to come, and losing them to money-grubbing oil companies so they can continue to pocket even more dollars of profit is a moral disaster.

[Romulox]

34. Did you follow the story of the Obama admin's refusal to shut the Chi. locks

to prevent the spread of the invasive Asian carp into the Great Lakes?

[Blackhatjack]

35. Yes I did... but it was not covered very well by the MSM here in NC

AS I understood the issues, the environmentalists understood the potential damage the Asian carp would do if the locks were not shut, but the businesses demanded that the locks stay open to support commerce and jobs.

Sometimes the right thing to do means you have to look beyond the short term economic gains or losses. But that often is the only way to appeal to those in power.

Often there are huge economic losses attached to allowing our natural resources to be exploited for present day profits.

[sabrina 1]

43. 'You'll learn to accept it"

Like we learned to accept other rotten policies. For the past eight years we 'learned to accept' two wars, torture and a failed economy to list just a few. And we kicked out the policy-makers, which is what you do when you refuse to accept bad policy. Of course we're still stuck with the results of those 'you'll get used to it' policies. That's what Republicans said 'get used to it' when we complained.

Are you serious, or was that snark?

[ThomWV]

41. Rig fishing, which is very popular in the Gulf, would be available from Oregon and Hatteras Inlets

And that would bring back a whole lot of fishermen who quit because it got so expensive and because over fishing.

[malaise]

42. It will never happen

After the first hurricane season destroys the rigs before they're completed, they'll realize it will never work and it's not worth the investment.