Press Statement
April 22, 2025
Time for Congress to permanently ban offshore oil drilling in the Atlantic by passing the “Clean Ocean and Save Tourism Anti-Drilling Act”
Below is a statement by Frank Knapp Jr., President and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce (SCSBCC), regarding a bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ). The “Clean Ocean and Save Tourism Anti-Drilling Act” would permanently prohibit offshore drilling for oil along the Atlantic Coast and Straits of Florida.
The SCSBCC has a successful 10-year history in leading the East Coast business fight against offshore oil exploration and drilling. In 2015, the organization officially took the position of opposing testing and drilling for oil off the Atlantic Coast. After the SCSBCC president met with the Obama Administration, the Mid-Atlantic was removed from the Administration’s plans for offshore drilling. SCSBCC co-founded and led the Business Alliance to Protect the Atlantic Coast to continue efforts to stop oil exploration in the Atlantic and future efforts for drilling. In 2018, SCSBCC and 16 SC municipalities filed a successful lawsuit in federal court challenging the Trump Administration issuing permits to explore for oil in the Atlantic. SCSBCC launched a 2019 campaign calling for all Democratic candidates for President to pledge to use an Executive Order to ban new offshore oil drilling leases on public lands and waters. President Biden took that pledge and on his first day in office honored it.
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“The coast of our state and every state along the Atlantic has a vibrant small business coastal tourism economy dependent on clean beaches, pristine waterfronts, and great recreational fishing. All this is threatened by offshore exploration and drilling for oil.
Since 2010 we have led the business fight against creating an oil industry along the Atlantic Coast. The history of offshore oil drilling around the world shows that oil leaks and spills are an inevitable part of the process. Nearly 6,000 off-shore oil spills in the U.S. have been reported just from 2010-2020. We just recognized the anniversary of the most infamous oil spill, Deepwater Horizon, and its disastrous economic consequences to the Gulf Coast.
Even the exploration for offshore oil, seismic testing, would seriously disrupt commercial and recreational fishing in the Atlantic with a serious economic impact.
We have long advocated for Congress to pass legislation to permanently ban offshore oil drilling in the Atlantic. So, we congratulate and support Representative Frank Pallone of New Jersy for introducing the “Clean Ocean and Save Tourism Anti-Drilling Act” (H.R.2881) that would achieve this objective.
Opposing off-shore drilling to protect our coastal economy has been a very bi-partisan effort in South Carolina. Let me just mention some of the prominent Republicans who have previously joined the fight: Governor Henry McMaster, former Governor/Congressman Mark Sanford, Congressman Joe Wilson, Congresswoman Nancy Mace, SC Attorney General Alan Wilson, State Senator Tom Davis, State Senator Luke Rankin, and State Senator Chip Campsen.
We look forward to working with these leaders and others to support a permanent ban on offshore oil drilling in the Atlantic so that we can no longer be concerned about this threat to our coastal economy.”
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Contact:
Frank Knapp
803-600-6874 M
fknapp@scsbc.org