Thursday letters: Offshore drilling a bad deal for SC

South Carolinians have been bamboozled into believing offshore drilling will benefit the state with tax revenue and a wave of new jobs. The likelihood of this happening is slim. A projected $2.7 billion in state revenue won’t be there because the federal government has opted to stop sharing revenue with states in 2017, and S.C. oil production is scheduled after 2030.

A projection of tens of thousands of jobs is overstated because 11,000 jobs would be in oil and gas operations, primarily on rigs, and the industry typically contracts from all over the world; it doesn’t hire locally. The vast number of jobs in onshore service industries won’t materialize because the rig workers go home on their time off and won’t frequent nearby communities.

There is always the risk of a major spill with offshore drilling, and it increases in deep water. Our coast will continue to be hit with hurricanes and tropical storms, causing spills, and even with routine operational discharges, oil slicks and tar balls can appear on S.C. beaches.

Given that offshore drilling will provide no revenues to our state and virtually no jobs, is it worth risking major losses to the state’s fishing, tourism and recreation industries? These industries support 79,000 jobs and generate $4.4 billion in GDP annually. Also, there is a potential for tremendous reductions in coastal property values.

Offshore oil and gas drilling has little upside and is a bad idea for South Carolina.

Pawleys Island