Opposition to Atlantic Oil Drilling Mounts as Big Oil’s Case for It Falls Apart- By Shiva Polefka
Opposition to Atlantic Oil Drilling Mounts as Big Oil’s Case for It Falls Apart-By Shiva Polefka
On January 19, 2016, the town of Kure Beach, North Carolina, punched well above its political weight when it voted unanimously to become the 100th municipality between New Jersey and Florida to officially oppose offshore oil development along the Atlantic coast. Joining commercial fishermen, regional chambers of commerce, and a remarkable, bipartisan bloc of 31 members of Congress, these coastal stakeholders have made their voices heard at a critical time: The U.S. Department of the Interior, or DOI, is just weeks away from releasing its proposed offshore oil and gas development plan for 2017 through 2022. Not only does offshore hydrocarbon development jeopardize recreation, tourism, wildlife, and fisheries, but independent analysis shows that drilling is far from the economic cure-all that Big Oil’s advocates have made it out to be.
As the groundswell of opposition to the Atlantic drilling proposal rises throughout the purple and red states of the Mid-Atlantic region, it has become clear that in this case, the choice is simply between sound and unsound natural resources policy—no partisan affiliation required. This makes the Obama administration’s upcoming decision on whether to include Atlantic drilling in the next five-year plan a straightforward one: Leave it out and let it go.
A surfer paddles out in Folly Beach, South Carolina, where the City Council passed a resolution opposing seismic surveying and offshore drilling on March 10, 2015.
Resolutions passed by town councils usually do not make headlines in Washington’s formidable news cycle. But on January 19, 2016, the town of Kure Beach, North Carolina, punched well above its political weight when it voted unanimously to become the 100th municipality between New Jersey and Florida to officially oppose offshore oil development along the Atlantic coast. These cities and towns—along with scores of regional chambers of commerce, trade groups, editorial boards, and a raft of Republican and Democratic members of Congress—have rightly concluded that an offshore oil industry in the Atlantic Ocean is simply incompatible with the economic and cultural bedrock of their communities: productive fisheries, good ocean water quality, and clean beaches.