Dozens board buses to Rally for Raleigh protesting offshore drilling

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - Protestors are rallying in Raleigh Monday, speaking out against the Trump administration's plan to open more waters to offshore drilling.

The federal government's only scheduled public meeting in our state is happening until 7 p.m. Monday evening.

Officials with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management are discussing expanding oil and gas exploration.

Meanwhile, several environmental groups have gathered to oppose the plan.

Thirteen buses from Nags Head, Morehead City and Wilmington hit the roads Monday for Rally for Raleigh.

About four dozen citizens boarded buses in the Port City Monday afternoon. Some were activists with organizations; others were just concerned citizens, afraid of what offshore drilling could do to a place they call home.

"It's enabling to see there are that many other people that feel this strongly about supporting our livelihoods and our way of life here," said Dee Cortiglio.

Cortiglio and her husband retired to Wilmington 12 years ago.

"You have no idea what could happen. The risk is just too great. It's not worth it," Cortiglio said. "We all came here to enjoy this area and feel so threatened with these new policies. It's not right and it shouldn't happen here."

In January, Governor Roy Cooper said the state will sue the Trump administration if North Carolina isn't given an exemption from the Interior Department's plan to open up locations in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to offshore oil and gas drilling.

"We are not in favor of that," Tim Terman said. "We think it would be very damaging to the ocean, to the creatures that live in ocean and the economies along the coast. One spill could be devastating."

For Dr. Kyle Horton, this road trip to protest off-shore drilling is personal. She lost a relative in the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010.

"He never got to walk his youngest daughter down the aisle because we needed to fuel our dirty addiction to fossil fuels," Horton said.

Cooper added the coast brings in $3 billion in tourism annually and supports more than 30,000 jobs in eastern North Carolina. The commercial fishing industry also contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to the state's economy, Cooper said.

Florida received an exemption from offshore drilling exploration from the Department of Interior in January.

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