ENVIRONMENT

New Hanover to oppose offshore drilling

County to join dozens of NC governments against the proposal

Adam Wagner and Tim Buckland GateHouse Media
People hold hands on the beach while taking part in Wrightsville Beach's Hands Across the Sand last year. The New Hanover County Commissioners Monday are expected to approve a resolution opposing offshore drilling. [STARNEWS FILE PHOTO]

WILMINGTON -- A majority of the New Hanover County Commissioners are opposed to the Trump administration's offshore drilling proposal, and the body is expected to adopt a resolution on the matter during its Monday meeting.

"Our interests are really tied to the health of our beaches and our coastal economies, and at this point it doesn't seem to make much sense to take the risk of developing any type of offshore drilling," said Commissioner Rob Zapple, a Democrat, who pushed for a similar resolution shortly after starting his term in 2015.

The county's resolution would see it join more than 30 other local N.C. governments, Gov. Roy Cooper and much of the Eastern Seaboard in opposition. If approved as proposed, the plan would allow drilling off the coast of 49 states and possibly Florida, although Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke may or may not have pulled that state off the map with a tweet.

New Hanover County's board meeting starts at 9 a.m. Monday, just hours before Cooper, a Democrat, is expected to speak in Wrightsville Beach about his opposition to Trump's plan.

Woody White, the New Hanover board's chairman, tweeted on Jan. 4 that he is opposed to drilling for oil and natural gas off the "Carolina Coast." In his tweet directed at President Donald Trump and Sec. Zinke, White sad he agrees with most of the administration's positions, but respectfully disagrees with offshore drilling.

"I don't see that our energy policy should outweigh our concerns about tourism or the local environment," White said Friday.

White also said he would "absolutely" vote for a resolution opposing exploration and drilling off the N.C. coast.

When he was challenging state Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., in the 2014 Republican primary, White was a vocal proponent of exploration. At the time, he said, he viewed foreign oil dependence as the nation's primary national security concern.

In late 2017, the International Energy Agency said the United States is expected to within a decade become a net exporter of oil, marking the first time the nation has reached that milestone since 1953. Those shifts caused White to re-weigh the risks and rewards of offshore exploration in North Carolina.

"If we were still dependent on foreign oil, it would be a harder issue for me to have an opinion on," White said, "but we're not."

Brunswick County voted on Tuesday to walk back its pro-drilling stance, leaving Carteret County as the sole coastal N.C. government to support offshore exploration.

New Hanover Commissioner Patricia Kusek, a Republican, said she would support a resolution opposing offshore oil exploration.

While offshore drilling may be a national issue, "this becomes a local issue for us quickly," she said. "I would not be surprised if in the near future we pass a resolution opposing offshore drilling as other coastal counties have done."

Skip Watkins, the third New Hanover GOP commissioner, said he is also opposed to exploration off the N.C. coast, in part because domestic production means there isn't a need.

Jonathan Barfield, the second Democrat on the board, said such a resolution would be welcome because of the potential impact to the county's ocean-dependent tourism economy.

"I have always been in opposition," he said.

While a resolution would not mean the New Hanover County area is pulled from the plan, Zapple -- who plans on forwarding it -- said it would register opposition on a federal level.

"It's an overall sign as to what people are thinking in those areas that will be, in this case, most impacted if there's a problem," he said. "I think a resolution says we are not interested in offshore drilling."

Reporter Adam Wagner can be reached at 910-343-2389 or Adam.Wagner@GateHouseMedia.com.

Want to go?

What? New Hanover County Commissioners meeting

When? 9 a.m. Monday

Where? Old county courthouse, 24 N. Third St., Wilmington