Wilmington joins cities opposed to offshore drilling, seismic testing

In a unanimous vote last night, the Wilmington City Council passed a resolution opposing offshore oil drilling and seismic testing, making it North Carolina’s largest city thus far to do so.

The vote came after two hours of deliberations and in front of an overflow crowd filled with blue shirts, signaling their support for the resolution against drilling.

The proposed drilling is part of a plan presented by the Obama administration’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to open waters off the Southeast coast to oil exploration.

More than 60 cities and towns along the East Coast have already passed resolutions similar to Wilmington’s. In doing so, these municipalities have made clear that the uncertain returns of oil exploration are not worth the risk to their existing economies and healthy ecosystems on which they rely.