NEWS: General Assembly could add voice to offshore drilling debate

By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent  |  South Carolina lawmakers could face a vote that would put their names either for or against offshore drilling in the coming weeks as two warring resolutions make their way through a House committee.

If a vote comes, it would be the first time the General Assembly has weighed in on offshore drilling formally since 2005, according to a search of legislative records. The vote would add another voice to the growing chorus on both sides of drilling in the federal waters off of the coast of South Carolina.

The battle was ignited last summer when the Trump administration’s decision to reopen offshore drilling leases on the Atlantic seaboard in 2019. Gov. Henry McMaster, a majority of coastal communities and their leaders have opposed the move, while a 2015 poll — often cited by those seeking to bring another source of jobs and revenue to the state — says a majority of South Carolinians approve of offshore drilling.

Last year, a subcommittee of the House Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs began studying the issue after two conflicting bills were introduced: one encouraging offshore drilling (H. 4334) and the other aiming to circumvent federal measures to open up the Atlantic coast to testing and eventual drilling by stopping infrastructure to support it (H. 4307). A report was drafted after months of testimony on the issue, but the report’s release was delayed this week to accommodate recent developments, according to the committee chair Rep. David Hiott, R-Pickens.

On Thursday, two resolutions for and against drilling for oil and natural gas along the coast (H. 4887 and H. 4892, respectively) were introduced into the House and sent to the committee. Hiott said those resolutions will be considered as part of the final report, which could be finalized as soon as next week.

Hiott told Statehouse Report the report will not make recommendations on how lawmakers should vote. The report will relay facts found by the subcommittee.

Meanwhile, environmentalists have planned a big Statehouse rally 11 a.m. Feb. 13 in Columbia just hours before  an open house meeting by the  the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the agency that works with industry on oil and natural gas leases.  The meeting  is scheduled that day from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.  at the Doubletree by Hilton, 2100 Bush River Road, Columbia.

After loud protests by environmentalists, the Obama administration closed Atlantic waters to offshore drilling in 2016. The General Assembly did not pass any resolutions or bills to weigh in during that battle. The last time that legislators took action on possible drilling in South Carolina waters was in 2007, when it authorized another study committee to look at feasibility of drilling. In 2005, lawmakers passed a resolution urging federal representatives to allow for natural gas exploration off the coast.

S.C. Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, a Georgetown Republican who is an anomaly among coastal politicians,  has become a mouthpiece for allowing the federal leasing to move forward unfettered. He said it would provide jobs and revenue to the state, calling any opposition to allowing oil and natural gas drilling “ridiculous.”

But he said he also doubts industry would invest in drilling off of South Carolina anytime soon. Goldfinch said the state’s waters don’t hold much oil and, with a current surplus of natural gas on the market, industry may be reluctant to invest in drilling here for now.

“But that’s a business decision, not a government decision,” he said.

Conservation Voters of South Carolina Executive Director John Tynan said that’s like opening Pandora’s box.

“To say, ‘Let’s go ahead and open Pandora’s box because we’re not going to use anything in there,’ seems misguided to me,” Tynan said. “Don’t open the box in the first place.”

Goldfinch said he expects his colleagues will listen to the will of the people — and by that he means the 2015 poll that shows that 68 percent of S.C. respondents favor offshore drilling.

But if a resolution against offshore oil and gas exploration passes, Goldfinch said he was not convinced it would impact what the federal government ends up doing.  Goldfinch, who is seeking a referendum for voters on the issue, said South Carolina lacks the unanimous opposition seen in Florida.

Republicans U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, and U.S. Reps. Mark Sanford (SC-1) and Tom Rice (SC-7) have publicly opposed offshore drilling in South Carolina. Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn (SC-6) also has voiced opposition offshore drilling. Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said this month it should be left up to the states to decide whether to allow it. Others, like U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan (SC-4), have supported the Trump administration’s plan.

Tynan said he sees the potential for passing a resolution opposing offshore drilling differently.

“This is a federal decision that these resolutions are trying to give feedback as to what the sentiment of the legislature is,” he said.