By McCall Reeder
Intern
A surfboard containing hundreds of signatures from businesses up and down the East Coast, including several area businesses, opposing offshore drilling in the Atlantic traveled to its final destination in Washington, D.C., last weekend.
The surfboard went to the Secretary of the Department of Interior and the administration at the White House, said Mary Baggett, co-owner of the Blockade Runner Resort in Wrightsville Beach. Baggett said it was her third trip to Washington to lobby against offshore drilling and seismic testing.
The Surfrider Foundation orchestrated the event called Coastal Lobby Day over Feb. 12 – 13 weekend to campaign against the newly passed bill to drill off of the Atlantic Coast.
“Our mission is to protect our beaches and waterways,” said Amanda Jacobs, marketing manager for the Cape Fear Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.
The foundation campaigns across the country to ensure the oceans are being protected and respected by all. They also reach out to students by visiting campuses and classes. Surfrider welcomes involvement in its local chapter.
“We focus on doing things that anyone can do, anywhere,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs is also the owner of a business that harvests Wrightsville Beach salt to create sea salts for cooking as well as bathing or skin care.
“So I would especially like clean waters,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs signed the surfboard herself back in September 2015 and followed its journey to D.C. last weekend.
“A spill will happen, it’s inevitable,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs said that research shows that there is only six months to one year’s worth of oil off the coast, making it a big risk for the ocean’s environment for a small cause.
The group, including Surfrider chapters from Florida, New Jersey, New York, and D.C., set up meetings with legislatures to express their many concerns about offshore drilling on the East Coast.
Baggett and her brother Bill were in Washington to bring attention to the damage that would be done to Wrightsville Beach and North Carolina’s tourism industry if the drilling were to occur.
They also signed the surfboard.
North Carolina Senators Thom Tillis and Richard Burr, as well as U.S. Rep. David Rouzer have not opposed the plan to drill off the Carolina coast.
“We went to speak to the congressmen and senator, we all made calls to them,” Baggett said. “Tillis and Burr said people across the state do not let them know how they feel about offshore drilling and seismic testing. They said they are having a lot of phone calls and emails that favor drilling and seismic testing. Especially David Rouzer, he said his district has not been very vocal in being opposed to it.”
Kure Beach’s Town Council voted unanimously to a resolution opposing it on Jan. 19. Carolina Beach did the same last February, and the city of Wilmington followed suit in July 2015.
“Out of all the chapters, we had the hardest agenda because it is off our coast,” Jacobs said.
