McCrory requests federal partnership for offshore energy

McCrory requests federal partnership for offshore energy

February 14, 2013By Ben Brown

The Obama administration should partner with North Carolina and its coastal neighbors in exploration for energy sources offshore, said a letter signed by Gov. Pat McCrory and counterparts Thursday.

McCrory along with Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley wrote that as governors, "we strive to pursue policies that help create jobs and make energy more affordable while protecting our states' natural resources."

The three Republicans addressed the letter to U.S. Secretary of Interior nominee Sally Jewell and said they'll be "listening intently to your answers [during nomination hearings] regarding energy exploration off the coasts of our states…."

Map depicting the Carolina Trough, a possible source of extractable oil. Image taken from a report on offshore energy issued to former governor Bev Perdue in 2011.

Notes from the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, citing the Department of Interior, in a report submitted in 2011 to McCrory's predecessor, Democrat Bev Perdue, said the "economically extractable resource potential" off the coasts of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware was an estimated 1.15 billion barrels of oil and about 8.56 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The report, from the prior Governor's Scientific Advisory Panel on Offshore Energy, also noted the resources off North Carolina's shore alone might be relatively insignificant, though "new, more intense exploration" might surface previously unknown reservoirs.

"It's estimated that energy production from the Atlantic [Outer Continental Shelf] could create more than 140,000 new jobs within the next 20 years," said the letter McCrory signed Thursday, "and we hope you will ensure that the [Obama] administration is a partner with the states on this issue."

The idea of drilling off the North Carolina coast and elsewhere has drawn controversy for potential adverse environmental impacts.

"We are opposed to offshore drilling and offshore exploration off the coast of North Carolina," said Mac Montgomery, head of the N.C. Sierra Club's Cape Fear Group and a former mayor of Kure Beach. "We think it's disruptive not only to the environment but to the economy of North Carolina because we derive a tremendous amount of revenue in this state from the fisheries industry and tourism."

Montgomery said the oil resource's size is unknown and not worth the perceived risk.

"An oil spill … would completely devastate some of our coastal communities," he said.

The proposal from McCrory and company said the governors "understand the importance of regulatory oversight, environmental protection, and public health; after all, it is an essential part of our mission and duty to our citizens."