Views clash at public hearing on offshore drilling

Offshore drilling took center stage in Raleigh on Monday as people for and against the plan rallied at a hotel while a public hearing was held on the issue.

The federal government on Monday held a public hearing to take comments, questions and feedback, and flanking the meeting were two opinionated and opposing groups.

Hundreds of people came from across North Carolina to join the Sierra Club in opposition to offshore drilling. The anger comes in response to President Donald Trump’s plan to expand offshore drilling off the Atlantic coast and in other ocean waters.

It’s an issue so incredibly controversial that, for some, it is a generational concern.

“We have a family business that we’ve had for 43 years and not just the effect it would have on the family business but the effect it would have on the future generations more than anything,” said April Vaughn, who owns a business in Nags Head.

The rally against the practice was going on at the same time and in the same hotel as another gathering in support of offshore drilling.

Former Fayetteville Mayor Nat Robertson said it would be in North Carolina’s best interest to get behind the Trump administration’s plan, which would go into effect between 2019 and 2024.

“This new plan should be seen as welcome news for all of us in North Carolina who use oil and natural gas to heat our homes, keep our lights on, take our kids to school, run errands,” he said.

Robertson, along with others from the North Carolina Energy Forum, said the expansion plan could bring thousands of jobs and decrease the state’s dependence on others for energy.

The public hearing with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management did not allow for open comments, but accepted comments submitted electronically.