Opinion: Weakening offshore safety, expanding drilling are self-destructive policies
Last month, the Trump administration finalized plans to roll back key offshore drilling safeguards put in place in the wake of BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster. While its proposals to also expand offshore drilling to the Atlantic, Pacific and off Florida's Gulf Coast have been temporarily placed on hold, relaxation of the drilling safety rules raises concerns about the well-being of the ocean and coastal communities not only in the Gulf of Mexico, where drilling continues in deeper waters, but also eventually in places that have been closed to leasing for more than 30 years.
Charleston and communities like it on the South Carolina coast are particularly vulnerable to any weakening of safety rules.
To read this column in full, visit The Post and Courier.