Hit the ROAD with us on Feb. 13!
Federal officials will only host one public hearing in South Carolina to collect your feedback and opposition to offshore drilling. The hearing is set for Tuesday, February 13 at the Hilton DoubleTree in Columbia (2100 Bush River Road) from 3 to 7 p.m.
The Conservation League and our conservation partners have organized a rally and forum on the exact same day, called Resist Offshore Atlantic Drilling (ROAD). To protect our coast, we need a crowd to join us there!
Click here to let us know you’re in.
The rally will begin at 11 a.m. on the north steps of the State House. At the rally, we will hear from local and state leaders opposed to drilling, make noise and demand the Trump Administration remove South Carolina from its federal drilling program.
We’re hosting a forum, right next door to the Trump Administration’s hearing.
After the rally at the State House, we will host a drop-in public forum in the room right next to the Trump Administration’s public hearing at the Hilton DoubleTree hotel (2100 Bush River Road). The forum will take place from 2:30 to 7 p.m. There, policy experts and organizers will help you draft and submit public comments and contact your legislators, and mayors and leaders from many coastal communities will speak and join you in your opposition.
We welcome you to attend the State House rally, the DoubleTree forum or both! Have questions? Email action@scccl.org or call us at (834) 723-8035.
Need a ride to Columbia?
On the morning of February 13, buses will leave from Beaufort, Murrells Inlet, Charleston, and the Upstate in time to arrive for a full day in Columbia by 11 a.m. Ride the bus with us and you’ll receive free rally signs and resistance SWAG. A seat will cost you just $3.
After the rally, buses will transport riders to the DoubleTree forum and leave Columbia by 4 p.m.
Bus meet-up times and locations
- Beaufort: Meet us in the parking lot at 634 Campground Road (Exit 33 on I-95) in Yemassee by 8 a.m.
- Charleston: Meet us by 8 a.m. at Tanger Outlets at 4840 Tanger Outlet Blvd. Park outside Banana Republic.
- North Coast: Meet us by 7:15 a.m. at Inlet Square Mall on HWY 17 Bypass side in Murrells Inlet.
- Upstate: Meet us by 8:00 a.m. at the EarthFare shopping center – 3620 Pelham Rd, Greenville, SC 29615 (please park on the back end of the lot).
Click here to reserve your bus seat today!
How did we get here?
In 2016, the federal government completed an exhaustive study on offshore drilling off of the Outer Continental Shelf and concluded that expanding drilling here was not supported by the public or the science. The Atlantic Seaboard was placed off limits to offshore drilling.
On January 4, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke unveiled a draft Five Year Plan for oil and gas development on the Outer Continental Shelf. It includes plans to explore and develop the Outer Continental Shelf, including the Atlantic Seaboard, for offshore drilling. Five days later, on January 9, Secretary Zinke announced he was removing Florida from the draft proposal because the state is “unique and its coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver.” In response, on January 17, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster submitted a formal letter requesting that South Carolina also be removed from the draft proposal. There has been no response from Secretary Zinke.
If you haven’t already done so, please comment to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) online here. Comments must be submitted by the March 9 deadline. If you plan to attend the rally or public forum in Columbia on February 13, we can help you submit your comments then.