Posted on Mon, Jul. 10, 2006

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Oil drilling bill worries Sanford

The Associated Press

Count Gov. Mark Sanford among those concerned about a bill that would end the federal moratorium on offshore oil drilling.

In a recent letter to South Carolina’s congressional delegation, Sanford wrote that the plan to let oil and natural gas companies drill off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts “significantly weakens the vital protections that South Carolina’s coastline has enjoyed for the last 25 years against offshore drilling and could negatively impact the largest industry in our state.”

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act, which would open the Outer Continental Shelf to more oil and gas exploration. The bill also would give states a larger share of federal oil and gas royalties as an incentive to allow drilling. The measure still must pass the Senate.

With fuel prices soaring, lawmakers are looking for alternatives to questionable fuel sources in the Middle East and other politically unstable areas.

Still environmentalists worry about the law’s effect on the state’s beaches — the centerpiece of the state’s $10 billion a year tourism industry.

Although the bill would let states keep offshore energy production 100 miles offshore, the state would have to approve the ban every five years and the secretary of the Interior Department could deny a state’s petition, Sanford said.