Political Quotes

“Several coastal States, including my home State of South Carolina, as well as the Commonwealth of Virginia, have long advocated for responsible offshore energy development for our shores. This resource development starts with seismic surveying and goes all the way to production. Unfortunately, the Obama administration has blocked this exploration and development every step of the way, from tying up the seismic permitting process in bureaucratic delays to excluding several Atlantic States from the current 5-year plan. As we move forward to plan for a more secure energy future, opening access to new areas of our Outer Continental Shelf, or OCS, is a no- brainer. We must do it to stay competitive and to generate American energy and American jobs. When BOEM conducts their 5-year planning process, they use administrative boundaries to divide up areas for leasing. This amendment simply tells them to consider Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia as one area. Our amendment is simple: it unifies four pro-offshore drilling States as one administrative area for offshore leasing planning purposes. It also ensures that the South Atlantic meets the underlying threshold in H.R. 4899--and I want to commend Chairman Doc Hastings for his leadership on this--so that sales in this area will be included in future 5-year plans under this legislation.…”