South Carolina coast being considered for offshore drilling

SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS

You can tell the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to not drill along the South Carolina coastline by submitting comments until June 16th.

Recently, the federal government announced its resumed consideration of South Carolina for offshore drilling and will soon begin an evaluation of potential locations along our coastline.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is now accepting public comment as it looks ahead to the next five years, and South Carolinians are making it clear: Offshore drilling does not belong in our backyard.

Drilling on our coast would destroy underwater ecosystems and damage the deep-sea corals on the Blake Plateau that take thousands of years to grow, disrupting the food chain, harming the state’s critical fisheries, and threatening our marine economy.

Energy & Climate Program Director Taylor Allred noted in several interviews across the state this week that the costs and risks associated with drilling far outweigh the minimal potential for oil sourcing. As he shared, “South Carolina’s economy relies very heavily on the health of our marine ecosystem. That includes our $20 billion tourism industry and our $6 billion marine economy that employs about 80,000 people. We really don’t want to see that destroyed for the sake of short-term profit.”

We don’t want to see offshore drilling change the place we call home.

To help you in your comment submission, we’ve included the text from Taylor’s personal comments below. Please feel free to use these as examples or pull what resonates with you.

“Coastal South Carolina is a special place with rich biodiversity, unique cultural heritage, and a booming tourism industry — all of which would be imperiled by offshore drilling.

I grew up fishing here, and I just took my daughter fishing for the first time this month. Offshore drilling would deplete our fisheries, contaminate our seafood, and threaten South Carolina’s $6 billion marine economy that employs about 80,000 people. Nobody I know wanted to eat Gulf seafood after the Deepwater Horizon spill. What would we have left to eat if our local South Atlantic seafood is contaminated too?

The Blake Plateau, where drilling would likely occur, is a critical marine habitat that is home to the largest known deep-sea coral reef in the world. Because the coral grows only a few millimeters each year, the physical destruction of drilling operations could damage it beyond repair for thousands of years. The coral reef is an important driver of the abundance of our fisheries, and our local ecosystem may never be the same if it is destroyed.

Previous seismic testing found that there is likely only enough oil off the Atlantic shore to meet U.S. demand for six days. It is clear that six days of oil is not worth enough to justify permanently harming our coast. If the South Atlantic is opened for leases, additional seismic testing would be conducted, which could kill thousands of marine mammals and fish. Test drilling could destroy coral and stir up sediment without even finding any recoverable oil.

If companies drill, they will inevitably spill. A major spill could devastate our marine ecosystem and South Carolina’s $20-30 billion tourism industry for decades. It is simply not worth it.

I encourage the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to exclude the South Atlantic zone from the next five-year plan for the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. Thank you for your consideration.”

Read the latest articles below for more talking points.