Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory staked out Monday what he called a “100-percent difference of opinion” with Democratic rival Beverly Perdue over offshore drilling in North Carolina.
In a series of public appearances from Greenville to Raleigh, McCrory promised that as governor he would issue an executive order allowing “safe, technologically sound” drilling for oil and natural gas off the North Carolina coast.
“Our nation is in a crisis, an energy crisis that is impacting families throughout North Carolina,” McCrory told reporters at North Carolina Republican Party headquarters. “I believe governors must play a role in dealing with this energy crisis.”
“I believe as governor, I should play a role helping make this nation and helping make this state more energy-independent,” he added. “Therefore, I’d like to announce that I strongly support deep-sea exploration off the coast of North Carolina for both natural gas and for oil. I will support efforts at the federal level to give the state the choice to do just that. And then as governor I will try to move as quickly to work with the private sector to begin that exploration.”
McCrory, seven-term mayor of Charlotte, contrasted his approach with public statements from Perdue, the two-term lieutenant governor who has said she’s “100-percent opposed” to offshore drilling. Perdue repeated her concerns in a statement issued in response to McCrory’s news conferences.
“It shouldn’t surprise us that once again my opponent is walking in lockstep with George Bush, this time on his failed energy policy,” Perdue said. “North Carolina’s coast is in Hurricane Alley and has been called the Graveyard of the Atlantic for a reason. I haven’t seen anything that proves to me that drilling there can be done safely or bring down oil prices. Until that day comes, our focus must remain on finding greener forms of energy and increasing conservation efforts.”
McCrory said his support for deep-sea exploration says nothing about his commitment to conservation and alternative energy sources. He pointed to his work in Charlotte to support mass transit, bicycling, and pedestrian-friendly transportation options. “I will continue to implement such measures as governor and support local measures which will encourage energy conservation,” he said. “But we must not have just energy conservation. We must also increase the supply.”
North Carolina government should share a chunk of the proceeds generated by offshore drilling, McCrory said. That would involve a joint state-federal partnership. “I’ll be asking that the state of North Carolina receive just over 37 percent of the revenue that’s obtained from off[shore] exploration, which will in turn help solve some very serious budgetary situations in state government.”
Some of the state’s proceeds could pay for programs to replenish beaches and encourage alternative forms of transportation, McCrory said. He also stressed that detailed decisions about using the money should involve discussions between the governor and General Assembly.
Deep-sea exploration should also boost economies in eastern North Carolina counties, McCrory said. Too many of them rely now on county government and public hospitals to provide the region’s best jobs. “An economy can’t survive with that type of economic model,” he said. “And I believe by encouraging deep-sea exploration we can help then build the energy businesses inland in many towns throughout the east.”
Perdue’s response statement cites newspaper reports that say the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Bush’s own agency,” indicates “drilling won’t affect gas prices and won’t affect production for 22 years.”
McCrory counters that any alternative to the status quo will have only long-term impacts. “All of these measures, both energy conservation and a look at other types of energy resources, take well up to a decade to implement,” he said. “I recognize that, but one thing I do know is that even those speculating on future energy costs and needs do look at where energy will come from in the future. I’d like North Carolina to be a part of that equation.”
Opposition to McCrory’s plan is “hypocritical,” if it comes from people who drive their cars as their regular form of transportation, he said. “What you’re really saying is, ‘I’m willing to take oil from someplace else except my own backyard,’” he said. “To me, that is total hypocrisy, when right now we’re driving in cars and taking oil from offshore in Louisiana and Texas and California and other countries.”
A May poll from the John W. Pope Civitas Institute indicated 68 percent of likely North Carolina voters supported “oil and gas exploration off the coast of North Carolina.” Just 20 percent of those surveyed opposed offshore drilling.
McCrory doesn’t know whether his support for deep-sea exploration will prove popular with voters. “I don’t make my decisions that way,” he said. “I’m looking for change in the culture of state government. I’m not offering more of the same.”
“The times are a-changin’, and we better adjust to the future now,” McCrory added. “Why should we just assume that gas will come from someplace else? And to say you’re 100-percent opposed? We have a 100-percent difference of opinion on this issue and many others.”
Mitch Kokai is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.