The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has released its draft proposal for offshore drilling activities along the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The waters off the South Carolina coast are included in this plan.
A public comment period is open until March 30th, 2015. We encourage you to take a moment to tell BOEM that South Carolina opposes offshore drilling and should be excluded from this plan.
Click here to let BOEM know that:
- Current estimates for reserves off the South Carolina coast equate to a 6-day supply of oil and gas at current US consumption rates. This meager amount of resources is not worth the risk to our coastal quality of life and natural resources.
- South Carolina’s fisheries and ocean based tourism and recreation support nearly 79,000 jobs and generate over $4.4 billion in GDP each year in South Carolina. Embracing offshore drilling would mean the industrialization of our state’s coastline with oil and gas infrastructure, which is in clear conflict with the existing economic and environmental advantages enjoyed by our coastal communities.
- As evidenced by the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, a major spill can impact thousands of miles of coastline. Therefore, any drilling allowed on the Atlantic OCS represents a threat to the South Carolina coast.
- The impact of seismic testing on marine mammals, fish, other sea life and the surrounding ecosystem is also of serious concern.
- NOAA has ranked the south Atlantic planning area as having the highest relative sensitivity to spilled oil along the East Coast. BOEM should remove South Carolina and its neighboring states from the Proposed Five-Year Program.
You can also click here to sign a petition against offshore drilling along South Carolina’s coast, or click here to find your state and federal elected officials.
For more on the BOEM process, click here.
Learn more about offshore drilling and SC here.
