North Carolina is blessed to be the home to beautiful mountains and an extraordinary coast. As a proud North Carolinian, I want to do anything in my power to help preserve our environment and the animals that are a part of it. The other day, I read an article in Technician titled, “Rescue team tackles turtle treatment,” which explains how turtles that are coming out of hibernation are in danger of being killed by cars. Turtles have to move between bodies of water, but their habitat has been dissected by roads.

Sadly, this only one of the many issues facing turtles in North Carolina today. Contaminating our water sources and coast is one of the main issues endangering sea turtles in North Carolina today.

In January 2018, the Department of the Interior (DOI) released a draft plan that would open up the entire North Carolina coastline to oil and gas extraction. This will be an immediate – as well as a long-term – threat to North Carolina’s coastal communities and the wildlife they live alongside. Following Hurricane Florence, which devastated Wilmington this past fall, our coast was met with tremendous environmental destruction, as well as severe damage to private property and millions of dollars in reparations.

Stopping extractions from happening in the state would save us from extreme environmental impacts and would save our state millions in the long-run. I believe that we, as proud North Carolinians, should unite and stop offshore drilling from destroying our state.

After the Congressional Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee hearing on March 6, Dr. Cruickshank, a lead official with the Department of the Interior, told the committee that the DOI’s second draft proposal will be released “in the coming weeks” with a public comment period of three months after its release. During that time, it is critical that we and our elected leaders make our voices heard and take a stand on an issue that will impact our environment for decades.

Katerina Katsiadas is a second-year studying political science.