By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | The S.C. House of Representatives appears ready to weigh in on banning offshore drilling.
Two competing bills — one that would kill the industry before it could begin, and the other that would prohibit local governments from banning it — have been placed on the contested calendar for second reading. Debate could happen as early as next week. But depending on House temperaments, it could be awhile, too.
In the first three days of session, the anti-offshore drilling bill, H. 3087 championed by House Judiciary Chair Peter McCoy, R-Charleston, gained 28 additional cosponsors. The bipartisan bill already had 41 cosponsors by the tail end of the first year of the two-year 2019-2020 session. That means 70 members — more than 56 percent of the House — are now sponsoring the bill.
Lancaster Democratic Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell said she has been behind the early push to add sponsors.
“I probably have 10 more people who want to cosponsor it who haven’t gotten onto the sheet,” she said Thursday. “Everyone seems to be on the same page.”
- On Wednesday, a Senate panel pushed forward another bill that would prohibit offshore drilling in South Carolina. Read more.
In May, the House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee voted to put the bill and its competitor, H. 3471, to the floor of the House.
Agriculture Committee Chair David Hiott, R-Pickens, was one of the House members that voted for debate on Wednesday.
“As we gathered the information and started talking it (in committee), it was thought best we brought them both out of committee and got them on the calendar and let everybody have their say,” Hiott said. “Let’s just have the debate.”
But being on the contested calendar doesn’t necessarily mean House members will begin debating the bills next week or in the coming weeks. They could vote to table the debate, or recommit the bills into committee.
Hiott told Statehouse Report he would be surprised if the House debated the bills before a decision was made on the future of Santee Cooper or the budget was hashed out.
“I don’t think there’s an urgency about it anymore,” he said, citing how the Trump administration has backed off of offshore drilling in the Atlantic and the 2019-2020 budget proviso that prohibits issuing permits for the industry. “(It’s) something that is going to take up a lot of time.”
Aiken Republican Rep. Bill Hixon, a cosponsor of the pro-offshore drilling bill, said he also doesn’t see the bills going anywhere this session.
But Pickens Republican Rep. Gary Clary, an early co-sponsor of the anti-offshore drilling bill, said he expects movement on the floor.
“We’ll be doing something,” he said. “I anticipate it will pass because there’s a real swell of support.”
House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford of Columbia said a delay in the Department of Administration’s report on bids for public utility Santee Cooper could open the door for House members willing to wade into this debate.
“We have got to make it clear that offshore drilling is not welcome off the shore of South Carolina,” he said. “Hopefully that will not be something we have a problem with.”
Gov. Henry McMaster has repeatedly voiced opposition to offshore drilling in South Carolina waters. It’s anticipated that he would sign any bill that would prohibit the industry — as he did with the budget proviso last year.
“The governor will do everything in his power to make sure there is no seismic or offshore drilling,” McMaster spokesman Brian Symmes said.
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We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
This is a whiney idea : banning offshore drilling. This is “NIMBY” (not in my back yard at its worst.Has anyone noticed that our state produces no petroleum at all and wastes it like a drunken sailor wastes free liquor.
The 1st congressional district has some of the the world’s most excessive use of petroleum for giant SUV’s, endless giant pleasure boats.
So our coast is more precious than any other place in the world. Lets party like there’s no tomorrow and let those other people off somewhere send us the oil!
An additional benefit is that we get to signal our virtue as protectors of the environment. We don’t just bank plastic straws to signal how wonderful we are. We ban the very element that permits our manmade abuse of our coast.
I’m having trouble understanding if you are pro or anti drilling… maybe you’re just being sarcastic?
I grew up in Texas. Our idea of “going to the beach” was a trip to Galveston. While I was too young to understand the concepts of good health and environment impact, I do remember the tar balls were terrible. The city erected tar removal stations on the beach. Our swim suits and shoes were covered in oil. The stench was terrible. Fish were dying all around and the sea birds had oil all over their feathers. Last year was banner year for sea turtles along our coast … I know, you can’t make gasoline from sea turtles but be sure, wildlife we enjoy will be negatively affected. I just heard the US was no longer dependent on foreign oil … so why jeopardize our way of life for something we now have a surplus of? Will the drilling companies really contribute that much to our local economies? I doubt it. Finally go ask the poor people of Louisiana how they feel about the BP spill … a tragedy that went on for years.
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It is past time to recognize that fossil fuels from any source must be left in place while we switch to solar and wind energy. We are foolish to continue a practice which worked for a while but has shown its dangerous side in the last forty years. Oil and gas have been good but dirty workers. If we are to have a future, it will have to be with non-polluting energy.