Drive to Drill

July 21, 2017 - When Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina announced this week that his administration would submit formal comments against offshore seismic testing for oil and gas, Terry McAuliffe of Virginia became the last governor along the Southeast coast who's continuing to press for offshore drilling.

August 21, 2015 - With the Obama administration currently considering whether to allow drilling off the Southeast coast, we've assembled a timeline that details the history of efforts to open the Atlantic to oil and gas development.

August 14, 2015 - Southern governors, working in concert with energy industry lobbyists, are pressing the Obama administration to open ocean waters off the East Coast from Virginia to Georgia to oil and gas development. But a burgeoning grassroots movement bringing together environmentalists, business leaders and coastal residents is gaining momentum as it fights to block drilling in the Atlantic.

May 28, 2015 - North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has become a leading national advocate for expanded offshore drilling — a role that builds on almost three decades of his close personal, economic and political ties to the energy industry.

April 30, 2015 - Five years after the BP disaster, a group of governors led by North Carolina's Pat McCrory is pushing for drilling in the Atlantic. The group has close ties to a secret-money nonprofit and energy lobbyists, a relationship that raises questions about transparency, ethics and the blurring of public and private interests.