10 Apr Time to Start All Over Again
Like the story of Sisyphus, who when he reached the top of the mountain fell over the other side and had to start climbing again, it appears that coastal communities along the Atlantic are going to have to go back to work to prevent environmentally threatening seismic testing and exploration of oil and gas. We are told that the new administration will, perhaps as soon as this week, restructure the five year plan to include the South Atlantic and to approve formerly denied permits for testing off the SC Coast.
We were told during our efforts to push the Obama Administration to remove the South Atlantic from the five year plan and to reject pending federal permits for seismic testing, that then Lt Governor Henry McMaster was quietly sympathetic to our positions but quiet in deference to the governor under whom he served. Now he is the Governor and we are hoping he will become the champion alongside Congressman Sanford and others. Governor McMaster is popular in SC and has significant influence with the new administration in Washington.
I hope you will join me in sending him a letter urging him along because as he moves into re-election mode their will be pressure from monied special interests to turn him against what he has heretofore supported. I think he ia a good man and hope we can keep him on course to do what he believes is right.
April 4, 2022
The Honorable Henry McMaster
Governor
The State of South Carolina
The State House
Columbia, SC
Dear Governor
Congratulations on your appointment. You have worked to get there and are certainly prepared to lead. I wish you the best in these trying times and I can assure you that the City of Beaufort looks forward to working closely with you and your administration to make South Carolina an ever-better place to live, work, play, and invest in our children’s future.
As you may know, the Beaufort City Council led the effort among SC and other Atlantic Coast municipalities in our struggle to persuade the Obama Administration to not adopt the proposal to open the Atlantic to exploration and drilling for oil and gas in the five year plan and to not to permit pending proposals for seismic testing off of our coast. During our campaign every municipality adopted a resolution, similar to ours, which is enclosed, against the prospect of placing our economy and pristine environment in jeopardy.
It was reported that, as Lt Governor, you were very supportive of our efforts and I hope we can count on your continued effort to protect and preserve the health and beauty of the SC coast, and to allow our vibrant tourism and fishing industries in South Carolina to flourish generating the revenues so critical to our state economy.
Thanks for listening and please be in touch if I can in any way be of service to our wonderful State.
Sincerely,
Billy Keyserling
Mayor