Just recently President Trump announced that oil companies could, once again, begin exploring for oil and drilling off of the east coast. Well it didn't take the environmentalist whackies to start keeling over like bowling pins along with at least two state governors. Governors Rick Scott of Florida and Henry McMaster of South Carolina both have come out publicly stating they want no part of off-shore drilling in their respective state waters. So far, no word from Governor Nathan Deal here in Georgia. Their concerns are valid enough...all three of our states (and on up the coast) have beautiful beaches and resorts by the sea. An oil spill could be disaster. Florida can still remember the BP Oil spill that was so devastating several years ago. The fact that President Obama made sure of that by refusing help from the Dutch and others who could have capped it in a matter of days is an argument for another day.
But prior to that there had not been an oil spill in years. The drilling equipment today is so far superior to what it was 20 years ago is amazing. Companies like Dutch Shell are drilling in the North Atlantic where the water is very deep and the weather is brutal have been doing so for decades without incident. Brazil likewise is drilling in waters much deeper than ours and it's been a cash bonanza for them. It would be likewise for Georgia with the jobs it would create and the revenue it would bring in.
There are always risks. As good as the technology is planes still crash, trains still derail, and sometimes oil rigs spring a leak. The equipment we have to fight those spills has also improved and I believe for all the great jobs and money it would bring in to our community and state it's more than worth the risk. These rigs sit well offshore and cannot be scene from the beaches even if you're in the penthouse suite at the King and Prince at St. Simons. We need the oil and it's not doing us any good sitting under the ocean!