Opinion articles provide independent perspectives on key community issues, separate from our newsroom reporting.

Letters to the Editor

Fight against offshore drilling travesty

Below is the letter I sent to U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford:

It’s was with great sadness that I read about this administration’s decision to prostitute our coastline to the oil industry. This barely tolerable administration announced a new 5-year leasing plan to open the largest amount of federal waters on record for offshore drilling. This is a heartbreaking move for our beautiful coastline.

Seismic air gun blasting will destroy our dolphin population, disrupt sea turtle nesting, threaten our shrimp and oyster industries and do God knows what other harm to the beautiful wildlife around us.

This goes well beyond the eyesore of drilling platforms.

The environmental and small business impact will be tremendous. Yes, I said “small business.” That’s the group this administration was so keen on helping and yet the offshore drilling folks weighed heavy and won. Once again, the little people and the environment aren’t a blip on the screen of this big business administration.

We MUST unify against this and preserve all that is sacred about our waters on our gorgeous coastline.

The quality of our Lowcountry lives is at stake. Please fight against this travesty for us.

Regina Kirshbaum

Hilton Head Island

How to submit a letter

Send letters to the editor by email to letters@islandpacket.com or letters@beaufortgazette.com.

Or you may submit a letter online.

Letters to the editor must be 250 words or fewer and include your first and last names, street address and daytime telephone number so we can verify the letter before publication.

You are limited to one letter per 30 days.

Letters may be edited for length, style, grammar, taste and libel. All letters submitted become the property of The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette.

Letters will be accepted only if they are typed into the body of an email, not sent as an email attachment.

This story was originally published January 15, 2018 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Fight against offshore drilling travesty."

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