There are a few giant hurdles that must be overcome before oil rigs start popping up off our coast: the executive ban must be lifted (check), the national congressional ban must be lifted (not in motion yet), and the state will likely need to OK any oil rigs off South Carolina’s coast.

Charleston’s Senate representative Democrat Robert Ford is taking a proactive step and drafting legislation that will allow for offshore drilling, according to The Post and Courier.

Now, there’s a few things that would need to happen before that could be enacted. For starters, the legislature isn’t even is session until January. (And a lot can change in five months. Remember, we’ll have a new president) Also, not only would the bill have to pass the House and Senate, but Gov. Sanford would have to sign off on it.

Sanford has shown that he would need some real convincing before allowing oil rigs. Still, his veto could be overridden if two-thirds of both the House and Senate back the rigs.

So, once again, I’ll say the chances of oil rigs off our coast are small but rapidly growing.

Why growing? Recently many state politicians joined the “Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.” campaign. And, we previously reported on the Republican chairman’s endorsement of the plan and the momentum shift to see oil rigs off S.C.’s coast.

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