Offshore oil drilling not worth the risk | Commentary | postandcourier … – Charleston Post Courier

BY ROBERT BROWN and JOHN TYNAN

We each represent communities one defined by a House District number, District 116, and one by an issue, conservation. We are both defined by our communities and driven to serve them because we are deeply passionate about the people and places throughout South Carolina. And, thankfully, the constituents of our communities want to see us fight side-by-side in the Statehouse to protect the air, land, and water of South Carolina and the Lowcountry.

As representatives of both people and issues, we each are committed to working for their best interests. Recently, the debate regarding offshore drilling has come to the forefront among the concerns that we both regularly hear from our communities.

From a House District 116 perspective, over 23 towns, cities, and counties along our coast that have passed resolutions against offshore drilling including Edisto Beach, Charleston, and Charleston County. From a conservation community perspective, drilling presents a risk to very fabric of the land and water upon which our coastal communities are built.

In short, all of us understand that we simply have too much to lose.

Yet those that promote offshore drilling speak of the potential jobs and economic development even energy independence. Yes, these are things that South Carolina needs. But is offshore drilling the way to get there? And at what cost?

A 2011 study showed that the BP Deepwater Horizon spill had the potential to impact 7.3 million business throughout the entire Gulf Region, 34.4 million employees, and $5.2 trillion in business sales. An overwhelming majority of these were small business 81 percent or 5.9 million of these were small businesses with less than 10 employees. Following the BP disaster, experts predicted that 1.5 million of these businesses would have a hard time recovering, putting 1 of every 5 businesses potentially at risk. We know that theres a better way.

Renewable energy has been recruiting more and more jobs each year while the jobs available in oil and natural gas have been in decline since 2014. In fact, jobs in solar energy nationwide surpassed oil and gas in 2015. Wind power will create 91,000 more jobs than offshore drilling in the next 20 years. Orangeburg and Clarendon counties have announced over $250 million of solar investment this year alone, not on the far off rigs but in their communities.

In light of the benefits of clean and renewable energy, the dirty offshore drilling industry presents a risk to our communities that just isnt worth it.

In 2015, tourism brought in almost $1 billion for Horry, Georgetown, Charleston, and Beaufort Counties. This is because of the pristine beaches and coastline, iconic marshlands, recreational fishing, stunning vistas, and active tourism industry. If offshore drilling is allowed to happen, we will have to trade areas of our communities for the infrastructure and facilities necessary to construct and service offshore oil rigs before a drop of oil is even found. Add the oil rigs and the pollution that follows, and we could see the degradation of communities throughout the entire coastal region of our state. Most people do not like to vacation or swim within views of oil rigs, piping, or the onshore infrastructure to support drilling.

There is simply no place along our coast where drilling makes sense.

We cant afford to be next on the list of oil spill disasters. Since 1964 over 24 million gallons of oil has spilled into our oceans. Much of this is still out there oil is still being found on the Alaskan coast almost 30 years after the Exxon Valdez spill.

We have fought too hard for conservation to have our work undone by out-of-state interests who will rake in the profit while South Carolinas coastal communities deal with the loss of jobs, loss of tourism, and loss of quality of life. Those in Washington, D.C., want the short-term monetary benefit without taking any of the long-term risk that our communities face.

Thats exactly what were seeing now a federal push to put the interests of South Carolinians and our coastal communities behind the interests of big oil. This federal push is aimed at killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

I hope you will join us in our opposition to offshore drilling in South Carolina and ask our president, our governor, and our congressmen do the same. We must protect what makes our communities special and speak out against offshore drilling.

Rep. Robert L. Brown, a Democrat, represents District 116 in the S.C. House. John Tynan is executive director of Conservation Voters of South Carolina.

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Offshore oil drilling not worth the risk | Commentary | postandcourier ... - Charleston Post Courier