Zachary Keith
In February, and again in mid-March, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held a hearing on offshore drilling in North Carolina. Most of the time, public hearings by government agencies are held in a panel or town hall format, with time allocated for public questioning and oral comment. However, these hearings were held in an “open house” format -- a very different scenario. The March 18 hearing took place over four hours, during which members of the public could go to a hotel to look at posters and talk to experts, then submit written comments privately. The new setup made it difficult for North Carolinians to feel solidarity or get an idea of who cared about the issue. But the Sierra Club, in partnership with the Surfrider Foundation, Environment North Carolina, the NC League of Conservation Voters, Oceana, North Carolina Coastal Federation, and local businesses, turned this scenario around.
Five years after the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, the issue of offshore oil and gas exploration is being debated up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Unlike the Gulf of Mexico or northern Alaska, the mid-Atlantic states have no history of offshore drilling. For a number of years, the prospect of offshore drilling was debated in Virginia, but the BP spill put a stopper on that. Now, with the news cycle and public attention having moved on, the drilling companies are quietly moving in.
BOEM is holding hearings in all four states with waters being considered for drilling –- North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia –- but North Carolina was the only one to receive two hearings. This might not be surprising, since, in the words of Sierra Club organizer Zachary Keith, “tourism in the outer banks is a proven economic powerhouse.” The historical and natural heritage of the North Carolina coast draws visitors from all over the East Coast, and the Outer Banks can easily be described as a tourism economy. “Drilling would fundamentally change [local people’s] way of life,” says Keith. And with small spills and leaks threatening to degrade fisheries and shorelines even without a blowout-type disaster, “offshore drilling is not worth the risk.”
So, to galvanize local voices to attend the hearing, the Sierra Club’s North Carolina Chapter and partner organizations held their own hearing and press conference, in the same hotel as the BOEM hearing, and for a much shorter window of time. Surfrider allied with local businesses, which offered their support and helped to get the word out. The results were spectacular.
The first hearing, in Wilmington, attracted over 400 people, despite cold, wet weather. The second, held on a beautiful day in the Outer Banks, drew a crowd of 672 people, more than BOEM officials said they had ever seen at a hearing. Keith estimates that three-quarters of the attendees were opposed to drilling. When he looked into the room set up by the oil and gas lobby, he saw no one.
North Carolina Governor McCrory is supportive of drilling, but judging by the showing at the hearings and the sentiments of local businesses (at top), he seems out of step with the opinion of North Carolinians who live in the affected areas. The people who live in the Outer Banks want to protect the natural resources that provide local income -- not enrich the pockets of distant investors.
If you care about keeping North Carolina’s coast free of oil platforms, let BOEM know! The public comment period ends on March 30, so there is no time to lose to protect North Carolina’s beaches!
