By Paul Gable
A community forum on off-shore drilling will be held at the North Myrtle Beach Historical Museum June 23, 2015 beginning at 5 p.m.
The forum is being presented by a local grassroots volunteer organization formed in response to the Obama administration’s proposal to open the mid- and south-Atlantic waters to seismic testing and deep water drilling for off-shore oil & gas by the petroleum industry.
Called Stop Off-shore Drilling in the Atlantic – Prevent Oil Pollution, or by the acronym SODAPOP, this grassroots organization will have Peg Howell, a former petroleum engineer with experience working on oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea, as the featured speaker June 23rd.
South Carolina has been one of the states pushing for oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic despite the state’s reliance on tourism on the Grand Strand and Hilton Head.
Only Rep. Mark Sanford opposes off-shore gas and oil exploration among our federal legislators and Gov. Nikki Haley joins the group listening more to the oil industry lobbyists than environmentalists.
Sen. Lindsey Graham has long been a supporter of off-shore drilling and Sen. Tim Scott has joined him in this view.
Florida has been the only state in the region to pass laws opposing off-shore drilling.
However, presidential candidates Sen. Marco Rubio and former Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush appear to be supportive of off-shore drilling now.
It’s amazing what oil industry lobbying money will do to your views when you are a presidential candidate.
With most of our state legislators in the pocket of big industry lobbyists, it will be important for the people to educate themselves on the potential dangers off-shore drilling can bring to our quality of life along the SC coast.
Who, at this point, can forget the BP oil spill along the Gulf Coast five years ago?
View the flyer: June 23 NMB
Speak Up…