Today’s vetoes by Governor Perdue of two bills--S.709 and S.781— defend North Carolina’s clean energy economy and a safe, healthy environment for residents and tourists, said the Southern Environmental Law Center. Read more in the press release
Learn more about this case »After hundreds of visitors enjoy the Memorial Day weekend on North Carolina’s beaches, the N.C. House will vote to request that the federal government open its coast to the risk of oil spills from offshore drilling under the same practices that led to the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and oiled 641 miles of Gulf Coast over 87 days. Read more in the press release
Senator Hagan (D-NC), Senator Webb (D-VA), and Senator Warner (D-VA) voted down an oil spill bill (S. 953) that would have exposed Virginia and North Carolina coasts, fishing, and tourism to the risk of a major oil spill from drilling under the same practices that led to the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster a year ago. Senator Burr (R-NC) voted for risky drilling, and also voted against discontinuing $2 billion in annual subsidies to Big Oil (S. 940). Read SELC's press release here.
Ignoring lessons learned from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, the U.S. House of Representatives today passed the last of three oil company bills that continues a lax approach to risky oil company activities, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center. Read more in the press release
North Carolina Republican senators today moved to put North Carolina’s coast at risk to oil spills on the one-year anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster despite the harm witnessed to life in and around the Gulf of Mexico, said the Southern Environmental Law Center. The bill (S709) would redirect efforts away from alternative energy and force the state’s governor and agencies to adopt a pro-oil drilling position. More details are in the press release.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today the Administration is restoring the ban offshore oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic and eastern Gulf at least through 2017. SELC welcomes this news and urges the Administration to continue efforts to secure cleaner, more sustainable sources of energy generally.
The Mid- and South Atlantic and eastern Gulf of Mexico have been off-limits to offshore oil and gas drilling for many years. In March, the Administration announced plans to open these areas to drilling; just a few weeks later, the BP oil spill disaster struck the Gulf of Mexico, bringing into sharp focus the high risk of deepwater drilling, and the tremendous ecological and economic harm that awaits coastal communities.
Salazar noted that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement will proceed with studying the impacts of potential seismic studies in the Atlantic to gauge oil reserves and other resources. SELC remains concerned about the impact of seismic testing and will be following this process closely.
Read Secretary Salazar's press release.
Read SELC's press statement.