Henry McMaster, Governor of South Carolina, has made it very clear that he opposes both seismic testing and drilling for oil in the Atlantic.

Now one of his challengers in next year’s GOP primary has weighed in on the issue of offshore drilling.

According to the Charleston City Paper, Catherine Templeton spoke to a town hall meeting on August 1^st and answered a question regarding President Trump’s effort to open up the Atlantic to offshore oil drilling.

Templeton said that the minute amount of energy reserves believed to lie off the coast of South Carolina do not justify the threat that the industry would pose to South Carolina’s booming tourism industry.

So she’s against offshore drilling unless there is a lot of oil out there. Huh?

If there were large oil deposits off the coast, there would be more drilling if it were allowed. That would increase the risk of spills and leaks to South Carolina’s vibrant coastal tourism economy.  How does increasing the risk justify accepting the threat?

Ms. Templeton’s response also implies that she is not against seismic airgun blasting the Atlantic to “see what’s out there”; the line Big Oil always uses to downplay the enormous risk seismic testing poses to all marine life and thus to local economies.

The businesses, residents and local governments on South Carolina’s coast are firmly in support of Governor McMaster on this issue. His opponents have to decide if they support South Carolina’s coastal economies or Big Oil.  There is no middle ground or room for nonsensical statements.

Frank Knapp Jr.