4
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2008
Coastal N.C. county asks
for offshore drilling OK
Seeks federal, state support on issue
BY MEGHAN COOKE
STAFF WRITER
Carteret County inserted itself
into an ongoing national debate
last week by asking lawmakers to
allow drilling for oil and natural
gas off the N.C. coast.
The board of commissioners
passed a resolution 5-2 encourag
ing state and federal representa
tives to support drilling, citing its
economic benefits.
The issue of offshore drilling
has been in the spotlight for much
of the summer. President George
Bush lifted a ban on the practice in
July and challenged Congress to do
the same. Congress has yet to pass
legislation addressing the issue.
Carteret County Commissioner
Greg Lewis, who introduced the
resolution, said coastal counties
like his face increasingly scarce fed
eral and state funding for harbors,
inlets and waterways.
The prospect for revenue and
jobs that drilling might provide
is alluring, he said, citing a U.S.
House Committee on Natural
Resources figure stating that the
state could receive nearly $24 bil
lion in drilling royalties during a
30- to 40-year period.
However, the effects that off
shore drilling could have on the
coastal environmental and the
INSTITUTE
FROM PAGE 3
in other careers.
Junior Chessa Atkinson, a
business major, said she hopes to
employ sustainability practices
toward a business career.
“I am, of course, taking all of the
normal B-school classes,” she said.
"But eventually I intend to apply
them toward sustainable green
business.”
She said she was motivated to
take the class after taking other
environmental classes.
“I took (Greg) Gangi’s
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tourism industry are hefty con
siderations, Lewis said, and the
county won’t be making any reck
less decisions.
“If the only place to bring a pipe
line onshore was Atlantic Beach,
that’s not a bright idea,” he said.
“Let’s look and see what’s proposed
before we pass judgment.”
N.C. Rep. Pat McElraft,
R-Carteret, said she supports the
resolution, although an extensive
environmental and economic study
is necessary before she or anyone
else can reach a decision.
“People are hurting with gas
prices, and we need to do some
thing now,” McElraft said.
Drilling is unlikely to damage
the tourism industry as long as
machinery is kept far enough off
the coast, she said, adding that
with the latest technology, an oil
spill is also unlikely.
Some others are still hesitant
about the wisdom of pursuing
drilling.
The possibility of such high rev
enue is tantalizing, but it might
come at a price, said Molly Diggins,
state director of the N.C. chapter of
the Sierra Club.
“Proponents have created an
illusion that the drilling would
take place so far offshore that it
wouldn’t have any effects,” she said.
Environment and Society class
pretty early in my career here at
Carolina,” said Katherine Betz,
a senior environmental studies
major. “And he was one of the ones
who was planning it and doing it.”
Betz said she is glad the course was
created in time for her to enroll.
“I was just really excited about
this,” Betz said about the sustain
ability class. “This was my last
chance to take a sustainability
course, and they were offering it
during my last semester.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
“People are
hurting with gas
prices, and we
need to do
something now.”
PAT MCELRAFT, N.C. REPRESENTATIVE
“It’s just that: an illusion.”
Diggins also expressed doubt
that drilling would leave the tour
ism industry unscathed or garner
much support in the N.C. govern
ment.
“It’s hard to picture the state
going in a direction that would send
tourism somewhere else,” she said.
Despite some misgivings,
Carteret County’s community
response to the resolution has been
largely positive, Lewis said.
Nearby Onslow County would
consider a resolution on offshore
drilling if it was put before them,
although that hasn’t happened yet,
said Commissioner Delma Collins.
The county is less dependent on
tourism for revenue because it is
bolstered by the presence of Camp
Lejeune, which controls much of the
waterfront property, Collins said.
“It wouldn’t be wise of us not to,”
he said.
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@ unc.edu.
60 LANGUAGES
FROM PAGE 3
She said Seawell’s diverse ESL
program is an asset to the com
munity.
“We hope that parents and
teachers in the community are
aware of those differences and
respect them,” Lawrence said.
“I hope they see it as part of our
learning community and embrace
this as an opportunity to learn
about the world.”
Contact the City Editor
• at citydesk@unc.edu.
News
AUDITIONS
FROM PAGE 3
views concerning the issues in the
scripts.
“Working with ITC has been a
wonderful experience,” Bernstein
said. “It approaches the issues in
a very open way, and encourages
conversations in a respectful envi
ronment.”
The program has also adopted a
classroom component, a course in
the Communications Department
titled Performance and Social
Change. Members are eligible to
enroll after their first semester
of volunteer work with the pro
gram.
“I met the most incredible
people with ITC, people who are
National and World News
FROM THE
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
GOP might have
lost Fla. bastion
MIAMI (MCT) There is a
new Hispanic majority in Florida,
and it is not Cuban.
According the Democratic poll
ing firm Bendixen and Associates,
44 percent of the state’s 1.1 mil
lion Hispanic voters hail from the
Dominican Republic, Colombia,
Venezuela, Nicaragua and other
Latin American countries.
Hispanic Democrats also now
outnumber Hispanic Republicans
in Florida, making what had long
been a relatively predictable voter
population for politicians much
more fluid.
N.C. candidates
take pass on DNC
DENVER (MCT) - Hundreds
of elected officials and candi
dates will be among the more
than 50,000 people in Denver
for this week’s Democratic
National Convention.
But not North Carolina’s two
most prominent Democratic
candidates.
Neither U.S. Senate hopeful
N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-Guilford,
nor gubernatorial candidate Lt.
Gov. Bev Perdue plan to attend.
Both campaigns say that, with 10
weeks until the election, there’s
too much to do back home.
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for an October 1 decision
able to see the change they can
make in the world,” said Alyssa
Champion, returning group
member and enrollee in the class
component.
Even in the first week of the
class component, Champion said
the course is already a valuable
experience that is making her ijpore
aware of the various health issues
on campus.
“I think today’s college stu
dent demands programming that
engages them fully,” Saypol said.
“They want to do something
and participate. They want to act.
I think interactive theater is the
perfect medium for that.”
Contact the Arts Editor
at artsdesk@unc.edu.
Russia recognizes independence of
breakaway territories in Georgia
MOSCOW (MCT) - Russia’s
parliament voted unanimously
Monday to recognize the indepen
dence of two Georgian breakaway
regions that its military invaded
earlier this month.
The move gave a domestic legal
basis for the Kremlin to take con
trol of the areas in defiance of
the U.S.-backed government of
Georgia.
Russian leaders said they
weren’t worried that NATO would
cut off cooperation in response
and seemed confident western
countries will come to terms with
Russia’s actions because they have
U.S. Navy brings
aid to Georgians
POTI, Georgia (MCT) - A U.S.
Navy destroyer delivered 55 tons
of humanitarian aid for Georgia
on Sunday as residents staged
a second day of protests against
Russian forces still occupying the
country.
Russian officials have criticized
humanitarian deliveries by other
NATO countries, including Spain,
Germany and Poland, as fueling
tensions in the Black Sea.
“I do not think that this will
contribute to the stabilization
of the situation in the region,”
Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn,
the deputy head of the Russian
general staff, said Saturday.
(Eljr lailg (Ear Mrrl
PUBLIC HEARING
FROM PAGE 3
comments that have been submit
ted on the plan.
The board will return a recom
mendation to commissioners by
Oct. 7.
“Right now the plan is just an
intellectual framework,” Chairman
Barry Jacobs said. “After this
comes the implementation pro
cess, where the specifics will be
discussed.”
The hearing was left open so
that the board can receive addi
tional comments from the public
at a later date.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
no other choice.
“I am positive that Europe
and the U.S. will respond in a
reasonable manner; the U.S.
economic situation is not good,
Russia is on the rise,” said
Alexander Kozlovsky, deputy
head of the foreign committee
in Russia’s lower house in an
interview. “We need coopera
tion.”
Russia’s lawmakers heralded
their bill on Monday as a crucial
step in marking their resurgent
sphere of influence.
In Georgia, officials were dis
mayed but not surprised.
Maliki requests
U.S. withdrawal
BAGHDAD (MCT) - Prime
Minister Nouri al Maliki said
Monday there would be no
security agreement between the
United States and Iraq without
an unconditional timetable for
withdrawal.
But the White House disput
ed Maliki’s statement and made
clear the two countries are still
at odds over the terms of a U.S.
withdrawal.
“Any decisions on troops will be
based on conditions on the ground
in Iraq,” White House spokesman
Tony Fratto said. “That has always
been our position. It continues to
be our position.”