Letters: Drilling would endanger tourism

Last month, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana introduced a bill to allow the sale of more oil and gas leases off the Outer Continental Shelf. It’s similar to a bill introduced in 2015 by Sen. Tim Scott, who said at the time that “safe and responsible energy production off the Atlantic coast has the ability to grow our economy, create thousands of good paying jobs, and continue to strengthen our nation’s energy future.”

Tourists spent more than $20 billion in South Carolina in 2015; tourism supports one of every 10 jobs and generates more than $1 billion a year in tax revenues for state and local governments. The American Petroleum Institute projects that the 20-year economic impact of drilling offshore of South Carolina would be $2.7 billion. That’s less than 1 percent of the economic impact than tourism has on our economy.

If a “small” Santa Barbara oil spill closed beaches for weeks, a major oil spill could put our tourism industry out of business for years.

Santa Barbara’s spill reminds us that there is no “safe and responsible energy production” with oil drilling. If “South Carolina’s pristine coastline is a world class tourist destination and … a cornerstone of our state’s economy,” as Sen. Scott said, why would we risk economic disaster and jobs lost in the event of an (inevitable) oil spill?

This story was originally published April 2, 2017 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Letters: Drilling would endanger tourism."