Elected officials should represent will of constituents

I was greatly disappointed again today when I read an article on seismic testing and offshore drilling in the Sun News (Briarcliffe Acres votes against offshore drilling, Wednesday) only to learn that our elected officials are still ignoring the will of their constituents.

I have listened to elected officials and their staffers as they have told us that petitions and resolutions will not affect the decision-making process on these issues. That mindset is simply preposterous. Then, again today, I read a quote from U.S. Rep. Tom Rice: “My position has been let’s do the seismic testing. Let’s find out what’s out there and then we can make rational decisions.”

No, sir. You are wrong.

I voted for Rice to be my “Representative” – not a dictator. Tom Rice and his colleagues need to remember who elected them and let those people be heard through their actions. We are now at a point where the governments of every single coastal town in the state of South Carolina (and the capital city of Columbia) have resolved against seismic testing and offshore drilling. What is it about the word “unanimous” that Rice and his colleagues don’t understand?

Those resolutions should indicate to our elected officials that we don’t care what is out there. We are against seismic testing. We do not need to do it. We do not want to do it. We do not believe oil industry claims that it is harmless.

We have indicated – loud and clear and in a unanimous fashion, that our “rational decision” has been made. We, the people, don’t care what is out there. We believe that every possible benefit to be derived from offshore drilling is not worth the risk to our existing economies and environment.

Congressman Rice, Gov. Nikki Haley and all our other elected officials should have a “no brainer” to deal with on these issues. Instead, they persist in representing the best interests of the oil companies instead of their constituents.

No, we the people were not responsible for these preposterous ideas of seismic testing and offshore drilling. We were not responsible for massive campaign donations and PAC dollars to benefit our elected officials. But we the people are responsible for the rational decisions expressed by the governments of every coastal town, village and industrial port city in our state.

Now it is time for our senators, congressmen and governor to do what they were elected to do: represent us, not the oil companies.

The writer lives in Murrells Inlet

This story was originally published October 26, 2015 at 10:04 AM with the headline "Elected officials should represent will of constituents."