Perdue looking for advice on offshore drilling, wind energy

RALEIGH -- Gov. Beverly Perdue, who in the past had had expressed reservations about offshore drilling, on Monday created a scientific panel to advise her on whether North Carolina should permit exploration for oil, natural gas, wind and other energy sources off its coast.

"The North Carolina coast is home to an abundance of natural resources -- some of which have the potential to be tapped as energy sources," Perdue said in a statement Monday. "As we research this potential for national and state use, I tend to make sure sound science and a thorough examination of the risks and benefits drive our decisions."

Perdue did not name the members of the advisory panel. 

At a teleconference on Friday, U.S. Energy Secretary had urged the state to pursue off shore wind energy saying it could produce 10,000 to 20,000 jobs in North Carolina.

For Perdue, who has spent most of her adult life in the coastal town of New Bern, the issue of off shore drilling, has been a difficult one.  During last year's gubernatorial campaign. she said said she was ""100 percent opposed to oil drilling off the coast of North Carolina" declaring that "on my watch, we'll never solve the gas problem by drilling off the coast of North Carolina."

But with gas prices rising, her Republican opponent, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory strongly supported allowing drilling off the coast. Nearing election time, Perdue shifted her position saying she would create a panel of scientific experts to study the issue.

Even though gas prices have declined, drilling remains popular with the public. A state-wide poll taken for The Civitas Institute in May found that 72 percent of voters favored off shore drilling under certain circumstances.

The governor's scientific panel will not be the only committee examining the issue.

In January, legislative leaders appointed a separate study committee to examine energy exploration off the North Carolina coast. The committee, which is co chaired by Dr. James Leutze, former University of North Carolina at Wilmington chancellor and Dr. Doug Rader, chief oceans scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund, has held public meetings in Wilmington and Morehead City this summer and plans to report to the legislature next year.

In a related matter, Perdue along with Senate leader Marc Basnight and Rep. Tim Spear will hold a briefing Friday morning on offshore wind energy at Cape Hatteras Secondary School in Buxton.

Besides creating a scientific advisory panel, Perdue on Monday wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar outlining her concerns about the federal government's draft plans for oil and gas leasing. She said there is not information about which areas are under consideration and how the states will share in any oil or gas revenues.