San Francisco: Prominent US Congressman Mark Sanford burst through the door he had been pushing at in recent weeks when he declared his opposition to offshore exploration and drilling for oil and gas in the Atlantic on Monday.
Representative Sanford of South Carolina’s first congressional district had been expressing doubts as to whether or not he would endorse federal government plans for such drilling at least 50 miles from shore on the east coast.
On Monday he went the whole hog by going on the record opposing the plan. A Republican, Sanford on Monday released a letter he wrote to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management asking the agency not to allow offshore testing.
He explained his main objection was that seismic test results conducted during the exploratory phase will not be shared with the state or with local residents.
“Without access to the seismic data South Carolina would be on the outside looking in,” Sanford wrote in his letter.
