McCain & McCrory Want to Gamble North Carolina’s Coastlines for Big Oil Profits
Submitted by NCDem Amy on Sat, 07/05/2008 - 12:11pm
North Carolina’s beautiful coastlines are home to abundantly rich coastal ecosystems that contain one of the most productive aquatic systems in North America which provides the key resource base for two of the biggest industries in the state: Tourism and Commercial Fishing. [NOAA Fisheries]
Tourism and commercial fishing provide tens of thousands of jobs for North Carolina residents and contributes billions of dollars to the state’s economy. [North Carolina Dept. of Commerce]
Tourism is one of North Carolina’s largest industries. In 2007, domestic travelers spent $16.5 billion across the state. (7.2 percent increase over 2006).*
Domestic tourism expenditures directly supported 190,900 jobs for North Carolina residents.*
The tourism industry contributed $4.02 billion to the state’s payroll in 2007.*
Traveler spending generated over $2.5 billion in tax receipts: *
o $1.2 billion in federal taxes, and $1.3 billion in state and local taxes:*
o $815.0 million in state tax revenue & $529.0 million in local tax revenue*
North Carolina ranks seventh in person-trip volume by state behind California, Florida, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
George W. Bush, John McCain, Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Patrick McCrory and Multinational Big Oil Corporations want to gamble all of this on a 2% chance of a commercial find of oil or gas. Two percent. [North Carolina Dept of Environment and Natural Resources]
In fact, Patrick McCrory has said it would be “hypocritical” not to drill offshore North Carolina’s coasts since North Carolinians “use so much energy.” Hypocritical?
McCrory is proposing North Carolinians live on borrowed time, risk our fragile coastal ecosystems and threaten two of the state’s biggest industries to allow multinational big oil corporations to drill offshore in the state. Never mind that along the East coast, “none of 52 wells sunk since the mid-1970's has found sufficient oil and gas to merit production.” Hey, if it has the potential for big oil corporations' to boost their bottom line, why not take the gamble?
According to Bush, McCain and McCrory, as long as big oil corporations continue to realize record profits, it matters not that millions of gallons of oil and tens of thousands of pounds of mercury have been dumped into our oceans from offshore drilling.
The tremendous environmental impact of offshore drilling should not be underestimated and even if oil is discovered, the find will be limited, unlike clean, sustainable energy sources such as windpower, the world’s fastest growing energy source.
North Carolina happens to contain significant areas of Wind Class 3 (suitable for most utilities-scale wind turbine applications) offshore, near shore and onshore. Opportunities in the state to develop clean, sustainable energy sources abound. Furthering our dependence on oil will only serve to delay such progress.
Here’s the bottom line. There’s a potential two percent chance of a commercial find off of North Carolina’s coasts. If gas or oil is found, it will take ten years to yield production. Our coastal ecosystems and tens of thousands of tourism and coastal fishing jobs will be at stake.
Is it worth it?
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Beach property
I would think that there is a potential for an unusual partnership to fight allowing offshore drilling in North Carolina: Environmentalists and Beach property investors.
Beach property owners/investors must be a bit concerned about plummetting beach property values caused by blighted views, possible oil spills and tens of thousands of pounds of toxins being dumped into the waters.
I want to share this comment a poster made on this on my DU video thread:
"Enjoy the show folks."
Exactly. What a sham. The only ones who will benefit from offshore drilling are big oil corps.
NCDem Amy on YouTube
They promise you won't be able to see the rigs
But that's like promising you can't see the mercury in the water from coal burning.
Tolerance ends
Good point
And while they may claim you wont be able to see the rigs from the shoreline, a massive oil spill certainly would be visible on shore.
NCDem Amy on YouTube
How many oil rigs in the
How many oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico spilled during Katrina and other big storms? How would offshore drilling in North Carolina effect tourism?
Carolina Politics Online
Carolina Politics Online
Enough to cause untold consequences for the fishing industry
Hurricane Katrina leaves legacy of industrial waste, raw sewage and oil spills
Progressive Democrats of North Carolina
Progressive Democrats of North Carolina
Thanks loftT for providing FACTS
I believe it was McCain who used the excuse to justify that offshore drilling does not damage the environment by saying something like, "oil wasn't spilled even during Katrina," which of course is a blatant lie.
I do think it was McCain because I recall the speaker let out a creepy laugh after it was said.
NCDem Amy on YouTube
I don't know if it was McCain or LA Governor Bobby Jindal
Either way - it was an, um, misleading statement, or, um, untruth, or um, LIE.
Can we, instead, start talking about "for the good of North Carolina?" --Leslie H.
Pointing at Naked Emperors
__________________
"My darling girl, when will you understand that 'normal' is not necessarily a virtue. It rather denotes a lack of courage." - Alice Hoffma
It's a talking point, they're all saying it.
As Bradford quoted Rep. McElraft upstream:
Where's Jon Stewart's editing crew when you need them.
Progressive Democrats of North Carolina
Progressive Democrats of North Carolina
Better question: what would it help?
Most experts say the most likely impact of new drilling on oil prices would be a few cents per gallon - sometime between five or ten years from now. And that the total amount of oil to be exploited is less than America uses in year or two.
Drilling offshore would be like selling your home so you can afford a heart transplant even though you have brain cancer and will die in 12 months.
Tolerance ends
And the billions it would cost to set up
the rigs could be spent on making alternate, renewable technologies affordable for everyone.
Can we, instead, start talking about "for the good of North Carolina?" --Leslie H.
Pointing at Naked Emperors
__________________
"My darling girl, when will you understand that 'normal' is not necessarily a virtue. It rather denotes a lack of courage." - Alice Hoffma
Exactly
Why should NC invest millions in offshore drilling rather than alternative energy?
Undoubtedly, the state would subsidize the offshore drilling through corporate welfare and corporate tax cuts.
McCrory is already pushing for corporate tax cuts.
NCDem Amy on YouTube
That's McCrory's one-trrick pony
With Bank of America and Duke Energy pulling the strings, it's clear there's a new Puppet on the scene. That may be all well and good for a corporate town like Charlotte, but the State of North Carolina has already gone too far in the direction of filling corporate coffers.
If you're a rich corporatist, McCrory is a dream come true. If you're a regular person trying to deal with the hard realities of Life After Bush, no so much.
Tolerance ends
Offshore Drilling in Hurricane Alley & Tourism
The Tourism industry has long opposed offshore drilling because it doesn't take a major oil spill to have disasterous effects on tourism.
Mercury will be leaked into the waters from offshore drilling and oil will be leaked, if oil is found. Tourists are not going to visit beaches where they are walking and swimming in mercury and oil laden waters.
North Carolina's coast is also particularly at risk since it is considered "Hurricane Alley." Dozen of oil rigs toppled in the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons alone:
NCDem Amy on YouTube
Just in case ya'll were
Just in case ya'll were wondering how our Carteret reps chimed in on this issue, here's an excerpt from a Sunday story in the newspaper where I worked for 24 years, the Carteret County News-Times.
Both Pat McElraft - who is faced by the wonderful Barbara Garrity-Blake of the Dems in November - and Jean Preston made the "dirty" environmental list. My personal take on drilling offshore in NC is that most all of my world-renowned friends in the marine science community think our state's offshore waters are among the most hazardous in the nation for this and, who am I to argue with them... Also, we need to get off the oil train, not more firmly onto it, so why risk a disaster to continue to feed a an addiction we need to break? And with payoff from oil exploration so far down the road, if ever, we all - even the pandering supporters of drilling - know it will do nothing for us anytime soon. BREAK THE OIL CHAIN, RESIST THE SPARKLING BUT FALSE LURE OF QUICK FIXES.
But here are the excerpts from Pat and Jean...
"...Rep. Pat McElraft, R-Carteret, said in an e-mail June 22 she thinks it’s time to explore drilling off the coast before another country, such as China, who won’t do so in an environmentally conscious way."\
(Oh, no, the red menace raised. I could be wrong, but I think the proposed drilling sites are within our EEZ and China can't drill here. They can drill elsewhere off our coast, I believe, such as an area between Florida and Cuba, but not in the often-cited area off N.C.)
She continues:
“The revenue that North Carolina could generate could be used for education or for our highway infrastructure,” she said. “With today’s costs of gas, there’s no doubt that someone soon will be drilling off the coast of the United States.”
(OH, there is doubt. In fact, unless we allow the law to change, there is no doubt there will be no drilling.)'
Rep. McElraft thinks the impact of offshore drilling to the state would be minimal.
“I understand from research that you can drill 30 miles offshore and not even know the rigs are anywhere near the coast,” she said. “Oil rigs are also great artificial reefs and the fishing is great around them. During Hurricane Ka-trina in the Gulf (of Mexico), there were no oil spills. We’ve made great strides in technology associated with offshore drilling.”
(Pat also doesn't mention the dramatic impacts of oil drilling and an oil industry ONSHORE. That is potentially the worst problem, in an area so environmentally sensitive and already under seige from overdevelopment - lulled, now, by the terrible real estate market but sure to return - and the attendant stormwater runoff, which pollutes fragile shellfish waters and has forced the closure of thousands and thousands of acres.)
Rep. McElraft said the country needs a well-rounded energy policy with conservation, alternative energy sources and increased domestic energy production.
“The United States needs to become energy independent,” she said.
(And the way to do it is to treat energy technology like the space race, and get ahead of the rest of the world, not stay behind it.)
State Sen. Jean Preston, R-Carteret, is in favor of discussing and considering exploration of offshore drilling sites. Her office issued a statement from the senator Wednesday.
“The discussion of offshore exploration for oil and natural gas should not be delayed,” she said. “With gas prices at record levels and no end in sight, the citizens of North Carolina ex-pect and deserve the legislature to be the leaders they elected and take a primary role in examining offshore exploration.
(PANDER, PANDER, PANDER)
Sen. Preston said citizens are making tough decisions in family budgets due to fuel prices. According to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report, the average price of regular gas in North Carolina is $4.017 per gallon.
“It is important that State leaders step up and make some tough decisions on the question of offshore exploration. The environmental studies that would be necessary to make an informed decision will take time to complete and we should not be caught unprepared if the Federal morato-rium is lifted.”
(BLAH, BLAH. PANDER, PANDER. EQUIVOCATE, OBFUSCATE. ETC.)
bradford
ughh, are any of them up for re-election this year? n/t
Progressive Democrats of North Carolina
Progressive Democrats of North Carolina
Thanks for the summary
I couldn't agree more with your commentary.
First, the gas tax gimmick and now offshore drilling. Two ridiculous proposals to solve our oil dependency. And, in both cases, the only ones who really benefit are big multinational corporations.
NCDem Amy on YouTube