Comment period closes on Trump offshore drilling push – Brunswick News

More than 100 South Atlantic coastal communities have come out against it, and it has near-universal opposition from environmental advocacy groups.

Opposition is also bipartisan, creating some uniquely unusual bedfellows. However, the Trump administration, along with many Republican elected officials, support offshore oil and gas drilling. These supporters see drilling and the seismic exploration that leads up to it as a way of expanding national fuel resources and enhancing job growth.

The Trump administration intends to turn back an Obama administration order that declared the coast from Virginia to Florida closed to seismic testing and the subsequent drilling. But there is a structured process to follow, so comments recently submitted come as part of the White Houses request for information on a new five-year regulatory program.

Closing out the comment period, environmental organizations once again reiterated their reasons for pushing back against the Trump administrations efforts.

There is overwhelming opposition to drilling from coastal communities, elected officials across the political spectrum, local businesses and commercial and recreational fishing groups, Southern Environmental Law Center senior attorney Sierra Weaver said in a statement Wednesday. These individuals, communities and businesses have recognized that the risks of drilling outweigh any potential benefits. We will not gamble with our coast.

The SELCs submitted comments in PDF form run more than 30 pages, with footnotes and links to research data, studies and news reports.

Offshore oil and gas production has never been permitted in the Atlantic, and after extensive study and deliberation about the injuries our coast stands to suffer from such activity, it was flatly rejected less than two years ago, according to the SELCs comments. Opening the Atlantic to offshore oil and gas drilling poses a direct threat to the fragile and unique ecosystems of the Southeast coast and to the millions of people whose livelihoods depend on our clean coastal resources.

Georgia municipalities that passed resolutions against offshore drilling and seismic testing include Brunswick, Kingsland, St. Marys, Savannah and Tybee Island, among others.

The decision to deny seismic permits was based on sound science, policy and public input, Alice Keyes, vice president for coastal conservation with One Hundred Miles, said in a July statement. One Hundred Miles represents thousands of coastal advocates who stand together to support that decision.

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-1 who represents the Georgia coast has repeatedly stood by his position favoring offshore drilling, however it is a policy not universal among coastal Republicans. For instance, the practice is opposed by U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, whose 1st District in South Carolina includes Beaufort, Charleston, Kiawah Island and Hilton Head Island.

Carter, though, defended his environmental policy reasoning during his February town hall at College of Coastal Georgia. He reinforced many of the same points when he returned to CCGA earlier this month. Carter said he grew up along the coast and takes pride in its natural wonder, but said many federal environmental regulations need to be reigned in.

Im not going to ever vote for something thats going to harm our environment, Carter said in February. I get it. I understand that.

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Comment period closes on Trump offshore drilling push - Brunswick News