 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Local News
McCrory touts offshore drilling About 60 people attended luncheon By Matt Shaw | Daily Times Staff Writer Pat McCrory, the Republican candidate for governor, called Monday for oil exploration and drilling off the North Carolina coast as a way to lessen the need for oil imports. Increasing domestic production of oil is needed both for national security and to stabilize gasoline prices several years from now, McCrory said during a visit in Wilson Monday. He also said that oil production would create jobs in North Carolina, as well as bring the state money that could be used to preserve and protect the environment. "If we think off-shore drilling is fine for California, Louisiana and Texas, we have to be willing to do deep-sea exploration off North Carolina," McCrory said. "We're hypocrites if we do not." McCrory, who is the mayor of Charlotte, used a luncheon appearance at the Rib Hut to talk about his energy policy, unveiled earlier in the day in Greenville. He later held a press conference in Raleigh. Coincidentally, his Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue, also announced her energy policy in Wilson this spring. Around 60 people attended the luncheon hosted by the Wilson County Republican Party. Off-shore oil exploration is one of the strongest policy differences between McCrory and Perdue. She is "100 percent against any type of exploration," McCrory said. She has been quoted as warning against a "Valdez" situation that would ruin that state's beaches. But what's happening now at the gas pumps is not a short-term situation, he said. "We're in this energy crisis for now and forever." He said he would commit to conservation -- by promoting 'green' building, better mileage in state vehicles and encouraging mass transit when it makes sense. But the nation also needs to investigate other sources of oil and natural gas, he added. "If we think we can live by candlelight alone, if you think you can drive your cars to work using sails, you're wrong," McCrory said. If elected, McCrory said he plans to meet almost immediately with the Coastal Resources Commission to change coastal energy policies and then issue an executive order providing for safe, technologically sound deep sea exploration and drilling. He will then petition the federal government to permit the state the right to drill off the coast. In return, he will ask that the state receive 37.5 percent of all revenues. He did not have any estimates for how much money this might bring to the state. McCrory is pointing to an area called the Manteo Project, which is 45 miles off the N.C. coast. Geologists believe there are nearly 1.5 billion barrels of oil there and possibly as much as 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, equivalent to 833 billion barrels of oil. Exploration and drilling in this area can be done in an environmentally sensitive way that does not hurt the state's tourism, McCrory said. "We are talking about an area that is far beyond what you can see from the beach." He noted that Hurricane Katrina did not cause any major oil spills on the Gulf Coast in 2005. The state's revenues could actually help tourism by paying for beach renourishment and other protective measures. Eastern North Carolina would also benefit from an influx of high-paying jobs, he said. mshaw@wilsontimes.com | 265-7878
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
