Hillary Clinton is candidate who has your back on Coastal protection

Hillary Clinton is listening to the people of South Carolina. Recently, she announced that she supports protecting our environment by opposing drilling off our coast. I'm encouraged that absolutely every coastal community in South Carolina has voted against offshore drilling and I hope other presidential candidates follow her lead in listening to the serious concerns coming from residents and community leaders.

There's no real economic case to be made for these proposals - a spill would have a tremendous impact on our tourism industry and environment. At the end of the day, there is simply no need to open our state to the kind of risk that comes with drilling.

I think it's beyond time for some principled leadership that looks past the special interests and focuses on what really matters here—protecting our coast. I'm glad that Hillary is stepping up to be that leader, and I'm confident she will work to preserve our environment as president.

This story was originally published December 31, 2015 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Hillary Clinton is candidate who has your back on Coastal protection."