SC's GOP Gov Sides With Coastal Communities Against Seismic Testing

"South Carolina’s republican governor has publicly come out in opposition to seismic testing off the southeastern coast, siding with the state’s fishermen, business community, and environmentalists.

As the Trump administration prepares to issue permits for seismic testing along the Eastern Seaboard, there is concern for the region’s fish and marine mammal populations. Seismic testing is the first step towards offshore oil and gas drilling, but multiple studies have shown that marine life, from shellfish to sea turtles to whales and dolphins, are negatively affected by the practice, which uses loud sonic booms to determine what substances lie beneath the ocean floor.

'I’m against it,' Henry McMaster said, in response to a question from a charter fisherman at a local Chamber of Commerce event last week. In his previous roles as state attorney general and lieutenant governor, McMaster has opposed offshore drilling, but this was his first public statement on the matter since taking office in January. His opposition is all the more remarkable considering he has routinely backed President Donald Trump, who is a driving force behind the re-emergence of an Eastern Seaboard drilling proposal."

Samantha Page reports for Think Progress June 26, 2017.