Offshore drilling foes running dry

December 7, 2015

Post and Courier (South Carolina)

The following article was submitted by William Schachte, Jr, retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral and South Carolina chair of Vets4Energy:

Late last month, Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling visited Washington, D.C., with a single goal in mind: to prevent development of our state’s valuable coastal energy resources. Keyserling and his allies continue to argue that offshore oil and gas exploration, including so-called “seismic testing,” poses a serious threat to both the environment and the South Carolina economy.

In fact, the safety of both practices has been exhaustively demonstrated, as have the potential economic benefits for South Carolinians. If anything, efforts to develop our coastal energy resources would actually make Americans safer by reducing the national-security threats that arise from foreign-oil dependence.

In opposing these essential oil and gas projects, campaigners like Keyserling are not only disregarding the facts, but the safety and prosperity of South Carolina citizens.

The areas off the coast of South Carolina may hold the key to American energy independence. By some estimates, the entire Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf could provide our country with as much as 1.3 million barrels of oil a day by 2035.

These waters have long been off-limits to energy developers. But that’s about to change. In January, the Obama administration announced a proposal for leasing segments of the OCS, including areas off the South Carolina coast, for the purposes of energy development.

Read the entire article at Post and Currier.