Cooper: If Florida gets offshore drilling exemption, NC should, too

Gov. Roy Cooper on Saturday said North Carolina would sue the federal government if it could not get an exemption from oil and gas drilling off the state's coast.

If that's the case, North Carolina has the same argument, Cooper said.

"If you're going to exempt Florida for those reasons, you have to exempt North Carolina," the governor said Saturday at a news conference.

Cooper said coastal tourism is a $3 billion economy that would be devastated by an oil spill if something were to go wrong at one of the drilling sites.

"It's just a catastrophe waiting to happen," Cooper said.

Charter fisherman Dave Timpy said his livelihood depends on the coastline.

"We're blessed in this state to have some of the finest fisheries in the world," he said.

Mayor of Atlantic Beach Trace Cooper attended Saturday's meeting.

"Politically, Atlantic Beach and Carteret County are pretty conservative areas, but this is an issue there is almost unanimous opposition to," he said. "It's not a political issue. It's an issue about our economy and our environment."

Zinke did not speak to reporters after the meeting, but Cooper described his response as receptive but without promise.