\u201cWe\u2019re all resort people, we thrive on the tourism industry,\u201d says Billy Almond, chair of the Virginia Beach Resort Advisory Commission (RAC). \u201cIt\u2019s our bread and butter. We just don\u2019t see the reward here with the amount of risk we would be taking.\u201d<\/p>\n
The concern in many areas is the same: in a post-Deepwater Horizon world, no one wants disaster to wash up on their shores. \u201cAny type of an oil spill could be devastating to the local economy,\u201d says Vicki Clark, president of the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/aacf_drilling_map.jpg\")
<\/a>A map outlining\u00a0the offshore regions along the Atlantic coast that are scheduled to be opened for drilling. Photo by the Bureau for Ocean Energy Management<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n In May, the RAC\u00a0voted to oppose<\/a>\u00a0offshore oil exploration, joining the Virginia Beach restaurant and hotel associations in making their opposition official. It\u2019s an action that\u2019s being repeated all along the coast. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), along with the ocean-advocacy group Oceana,\u00a0has documented<\/a>\u00a0more than 60 coastal cities and towns that have made official declarations against some form of oil or gas activity. Eight tourism and commerce organizations are on the list.<\/p>\n None of these groups have the individual authority to stop drilling from happening, a decision that ultimately rests in the hands of the federal government. But they\u2019re hoping their concerns will make their way up the political ladder to leaders who have the power to influence the final call. \u201cThe Obama administration said some places were\u00a0just too special to drill,\u201d says SELC attorney Sierra Weaver. \u201cWhen folks here think about [places like] the Chesapeake Bay, they also believe these places are too special to drill.\u201d<\/p>\n By the government\u2019s\u00a0latest estimate<\/a>, the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf contains 4.72 billion barrels of oil and enough natural gas to power all the homes in the United States for roughly eight years.<\/p>\n In Virginia, many state leaders are all for drilling. Governor Terry McAuliffe\u00a0has pushed for<\/a>\u00a0oil and gas development, as has state representative Scott Rigell, who in 2013\u00a0introduced a bill<\/a>\u00a0to lease Virginia\u2019s offshore land to oil drillers. The bill\u00a0died in Congress<\/a>, but it was touted as an economic boon for the state, with a proposed $2.9-billion in state revenue and 25,000 new jobs by 2035.<\/p>\n \u201cThe time to create new jobs is now,\u201d Rigell\u00a0said at the time<\/a>. \u201cThe energy sector is the number one opportunity to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n