Editorial: Why there’s no need for offshore drilling right now – Burlington Times News

Folks along the Lower Cape Fear have understandably been focused on GenX, but there are other environmental issues out there. Gov. Roy Cooper has made a smart choice on one of them.

In a speech last week at Fort Macon State Park, Cooper announced that North Carolina will oppose oil and gas drilling off our coast.

President Obama had put the Atlantic coast off-limits for oil prospecting, but President Trump reversed that order on April 28. Former Gov. Pat McCrory and Republicans in the legislature had been cheerleaders for offshore drilling, apparently hoping that big oil and gas royalties could substitute for taxes.

Such benefits come at a cost, though, and Cooper and Kure Beach Mayor Emilie Swearingen are right: The price for offshore oil in our backyard is too high.

We know seismic testing for underwater oil and gas deposits can harm marine mammals and reduce commercial fish catches.

Beyond that is the probability of a major spill. When something can go wrong, the chances are, sooner or later, it usually does. And oil rigs leaking, burning or exploding are not rare incidents.

In the Gulf of Mexico, tar balls are still washing ashore after the Deepwater Horizon explosion of 2010. The oil spill killed roots on coastal trees, speeding the erosion of barrier islands. Oyster production has been halved.

North Carolina's tourist industry generates more than $20 billion in revenue annually and $2.1 billion in state and local taxes. Much of that tourism is based on the Tar Heel State's pretty white beaches. When those beaches are covered in black slime and bird carcasses, those tourists will go somewhere else.

Commercial landings of shellfish and finfish in North Carolina were valued at $94 million dockside in 2016. One bad spill could erase much of that industry.

One question has to be, whats the rush? At the moment, gas prices are declining nationally, below $2 per gallon retail in many places. Adjusted for inflation, thats about as cheap as gasoline has ever been.

Bloomberg News reports that thousands of wells in the United States are sitting idle. Basically, with the wholesale price of oil below $50 per barrel, it's not worth it for oil companies to retrieve it.

If thats the case, why do risky drilling offshore?

Things might change in the future, and we might need that oil eventually but not now.

Star-News (Wilmington)

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Editorial: Why there's no need for offshore drilling right now - Burlington Times News