Pat McCrory for Governor

McCrory Supports Deep Sea Exploration

Will sign Executive Order

Greenville, N.C. - Mayor Pat McCrory today made the following statement:

"America is faced with an energy crisis that threatens our families. The solution to this crisis starts right here in North Carolina. As governor I will lead in a new direction with a balanced approach to meeting our goal of energy independence. We will actively pursue alternative sources of energy while also welcoming exploration and production of hydrocarbon reserves off our coast.

Executive Order

"One of my fIrst acts as governor will be to meet with the Coastal Resources Commission to change coastal energy policies and then issue an Executive Order providing for safe, technologically sound deep sea exploration and drilling. (The present executive order was issued by Governor Hunt.) I will then petition the Federal Government to permit North Carolina the right to drill off our coast and I will insist upon changes in law to ensure N. C. receives 37.5% revenue share.

Perdue Scare Tactics

"Too many of our elected officials simply reject the possibility of offshore drilling with scare tactics. Lt. Gov. Perdue says she is "100 percent opposed" to the idea of examining deep sea drilling, claiming one "Exxon Valdez could destroy North Carolina coastline forever." (Maybe someone should inform the lieutenant governor that the Exxon Valdez was a boat with a drunken captain, not a rig.) Instead of a balanced and comprehensive approach, she endorses "green energy alternatives" as the only solution.

Improve Lives

"New leadership will provide a balanced approach to our energy policy along with a way to improve the lives of all our citizens. We can become energy independent and transform Eastern North Carolina at the same time. The east has a higher unemployment and lower per capita income than the rest of the state. But it does not have to be that way. With safe,

environmentally sound drilling in the deep sea off our coast we can create new high paying jobs ... more jobs than the people of our poor counties can filL

"The Manteo Project is 45 miles off our coast on the Continental Shelf. Exploration of this area indicates there are nearly 1.5 billion barrels of oil or equivalent gas in the Manteo Project. It hill further been projected that it is most likely to generate natural gas, and could contain as much as 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas which is equivalent to 833 billion barrels of oiL

"Drilling in the deep sea at the Manteo Project would be far beyond the ability to see fTom shore If natural gas is discovered, it is fTee fTom the spills the alarmists predict. The product would be piped away fTom the coastal counties to more inland eastern counties for processing. Tourism will not be affected and jobs would be in areas where they are most needed.

"In addition to jobs in the east, the new revenue to the state would permit us to protect our environment, re-nourish our beaches, and increase investment in conservation banking to protec some of our pristine lands across the state for future generations. It would provide the revenue t develop alternative sources of energy.

"We have a choice in this race for governor. We can continue to spend billions of dollars a day on an unstable energy policy which places our economy at risk while bolstering rogue regimes and supporting those who would do us harm, or we can choose to end our dependence on foreigJ sources of energy by encouraging conservation, investing in alternative energy technologies, an< tapping into American sources of energy like the Manteo Project."