Views like this series of natural gas platforms off the coast of Dauphin Island could soon mar Mississippi’s horizon. Photo courtesy of Dr. Olivia Graves. Next June 28th in Gulfport, MS, Gulf Restoration Network and our partners at the 12 Miles South Coalition will be hosting Oil and Gas in Mississippi’s Waters, an evening of education and dialogue about the current effort to open up state waters to oil and gas seismic exploration and drilling, and the potential impacts to the Mississippi Gulf coast and its communities. Panelists, including GRN’s Executive Director Cynthia Sarthou, will discuss the impacts on tourism, the coast’s economy, the health of the Mississippi Sound and barrier islands, and how decades of oil and gas activity have affected places like Louisiana and Alabama’s Dauphin Island. After the panelists’ presentations, there will be a question-&-answer session with the audience, and the event is free and open to the public.The panelist will include: Reed Guice as the Moderator, Gail Bishop from the National Park Service, Beth Carriere from the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, Dr. Jeffrey Bounds who authored the 2012 study “Drilling by the Numbers, Again,” and GRN’s Cynthia Sarthou.Come on out to the Handsboro Community Center (1890 Switzer Road, Gulfport, MS) at 6 pm next Thursday to check it out. You can learn more about the event by clicking here, checking it out on Facebook, or contacting me at Raleigh@healthygulf.org or 504.525.1528, ext. 204. I hope to see you there! Raleigh Hoke is GRN’s Mississippi Organizer.
