Florida's two U.S. senators criticized the White House on Friday for trying to open new waters in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida to oil and natural gas drilling.The "other" politicians, as the Orlando Sentinel points out, span the ideological spectrum from ultra-consrvatives Sen. Mel Martinez and Rep. Clay Shaw (R-Fort Lauderdale) to liberal Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Miramar).
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Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said the administration proposal would violate a moratorium on drilling in the Eastern Gulf by giving control of some Florida waters to Louisiana, a state that supports offshore drilling.
"As I have stated repeatedly -- the administration is hell-bent on drilling off Florida," Nelson said in a news release.
Nelson and other Florida politicians have opposed lifting the moratorium because they are afraid drilling accidents could damage beaches vital to Florida's environment and $50 billion tourism industry.
Those who pay attention to such things will recall that in the first term of the Bush Administration, after public demonstrations in Pensasola and around the state, the president agreed to impose an "administrative moratorium" on drilling off Florida's Gulf coast. Then, he convinced Congress that there was no need to pass a statute banning drilling off the Florida Gulf coast.
As it turns out, it seems he was deceiving everybody. What normal people view as "off Florida's Gulf coast" the White House now claims is Louisiana territory!
The administration proposal is based on a "seaward lateral boundary" extending in a southeast direction from the Louisiana-Mississippi line toward the southern tip of Florida's peninsula. It would give Louisiana control over some waters more than 100 miles south of the Florida Panhandle.In plain English, as the Orlando Sentinel explains, the White House has decided "to put some key tracts -- including sites about 100 miles from Pensacola and 138 miles from Panama City -- in the jurisdiction of Louisiana, which wants to give drilling rights to oil and gas companies."
[Senator Bill] Nelson spokesman Dan McLaughlin said that would violate the moratorium by opening areas east of the Florida-Alabama state line.
Michele St. Martin, a spokeswoman for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, which advanced the new drilling plan, said areas of the Eastern Gulf belonging to Louisiana under seaward lateral boundaries are exempt from the moratorium.
She said the Florida-Alabama line is an artificial boundary that "exists for planning purposes but it is not a legal boundary."
So, under President Bush's much-ballyhooed drilling "moratorium" any time the White House wants to let Dick Cheney's oil company buddies start washing globs of crude onto the shores of Pensacola Beach, all it has to do is re-define the waters south of Pensacola Beach and call it "Louisiana."
It's positively Orwellian, as Matthew Brophy and Jacob Levich, among many others, have pointed out. "War is peace.... Freedom is slavery.... Ignorance is strength...."
...and Florida is Louisiana.
7 comments:
It is amazing what Politicians will do to get their way! I am totally against off shore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Pensacola has beautiful beaches, wildlife preserves, and a very profitable tourist season. If Dick Cheney lets his buddies come in and start drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, they will destroy our beaches by dumping globs of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico so it can wash up on our beaches later. And what about the $50 billion Florida earns from the tourist industry every year? Tourist won’t come to our beaches if their covered in globs of crude oil and has dead animals covered in oil scattered across it. Just because they renamed part of the Gulf of Mexico “Louisiana“ territory does not mean it is not going to destroy Florida’s beaches. Meanwhile, if they do start drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, the globs of oil they dump into our waters that will later wash up on our beaches and cover our animals with oil will just be the start. All that oil and natural gas they will be getting out of the Gulf of Mexico will fill up cars, trucks, and gas-guzzling SUV’s so they can pollute the earth even more from their tailpipes. Statistics say at the rate we are going now, we will run out of oil in 10 years. So why are we fighting for the oil in the Gulf of Mexico? Shouldn’t we being trying to solve the problem of running out of oil before it happens? We are also supposed to be protecting our environment. So we should forget about the oil in the Gulf of Mexico and start enforcing the sale of Hybrids. That way we can not destroy Florida’s beaches and we can not pollute the Earth as bad with our tailpipes.
There is no doubt that this will remain a hotly debated topic for quite some time. The bottom line is that we have to find a way to produce fuel and protect wildlife. As long as we keep talking badly about each other, the lines of communication between us will continue to be strained. When we stop throwing dirt (verbally) at one another and start discussing the problems, maybe then we could come together and make some progress toward to solution. I don't believe that Vice President Cheney wants to hurt the environment. I believe he is exploring possible solutions. Tourism is important to Florida. Our beaches are vitally important, as is the wildlife that call the Gulf Coast home. By focusing on the issues, we may be able to find some common ground where there is a win-win situation.
I am absolutely against any offshore drilling in the Gulf, south of Pensacola. The Pensacola Beach area has some of the most beautiful beaches in the entire world! At least, in my opinion, and I have traveled quite a bit in my short 20 years of life. Florida's primary money-making source is from the tourists, or snowbirds, that frequent our beaches. What would Florida due is an oil spill occurred? Our sparkling white sand beaches would be ruined. That sort of environmental catastrophe would destroy and probably drive into extinction several species of marine life. We wouldn't have to worry about trying to save the manatees because there would be none left to save. Don't the local residents get a say in what happens to their beach? We pay taxes to have our beaches looking beautiful and I for one don't want to run the risk of having it destroyed. Our area has been frequented recently by unusually strong hurricanes the last couple years. Such immense storms could damage the pipelines or the offshore reservoir used to store the oil before transport. Not only does the Gulf Coast need to worry about human error in oil transport and mechanical failure due to the corrosion of the saltwater, but also a massive hurricane damaging the drill site and the million dollar machinery to the point where oil is spilled into the Gulf. The winds and waves created by the storm would be dispersing the oil at an incredible rate. And, just to make things worse, cleanup could not commence until the Gulf was calm enough to traverse safely. By then, the spill would be so great any hope of saving affected marine life would be entirely lost. The local fishing economy would crash, thousands of plants and animals would die, tourism would discontinue, and the natural beauty of Florida would become scarred by the effects of an oil spill for many years after the cleanup was completed. Like I said before, I for one am not willing to gamble such a loss so some self-serving oil company can make money.
I agree with you too vince. The money that would be spent installing and operating an offshore oil rig could be better used funding research and development of alternate sources of power. The sun's rays are practically eternal. I can't even imagine how much energy would be produced by harnessing the sun's rays from just one day of bright sunlight. Hybrids are extremely efficient as well. I have a friend who owns a hybrid and has to get gas once every 6 weeks. He says his Insight gets about 72 miles to the gallon. That's amazing!
I agree with Vince and ABahr. I know there are more people in the world today then there was ten years ago making for a bigger demand for resources but I don't think drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is the answer. ABahr makes a good point about hurrican winds and waves damaging pipeline, reservirs and machinery. Instead of sinking millions of dollars into a project like this, the money should be spent on solar power and making sure car makers produce more hybrid vecicles. With gas prices steadly rising and no decrese in sight, I've decided to look into a hybrid as my next vehicle.
I think you all bring up very good points. But if change is to occur, it will have to be a slow process, considering the point that we’re at. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I would be highly supportive of the oil companies drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, but as Grateful Mom put it, “by focusing on the issues, we may be able to find some common ground where there is a win-win situation.”
I think discussing the issues on all sides, is always a good thing. However, I’d have to say that I’m on the environmentalists side. I think we need to protect the land, our beautiful beaches, and the creatures that live there. Ocean drilling and even just testing, through seismic surveys, is harmful to sea life, included the sea turtle and the sperm whale, both on the endangered species list.
Tammyjo mentioned the highly debated Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is home to many animals such as the polar bear, caribou, and various bird species that would be put at risk. According to information gathered from pbs.org, this “land was placed under federal protection by President Eisenhower in 1960.” Apparently, though 45 years later, this land is rich in natural resources; however, this land is also a sanctuary for wildlife that needs protection. The safety of the environment and those in it seems to be forgotten, when too much focus is put on whether or not we will have access to foreign oil in the future.
Vince brought up some good ideas that I agree with: hydrogen-fueled vehicles, recycling, and solar power. And from what Abahr mentioned about having to get gas only once every six weeks compared to once a week or once every week and a half, that sounds so much better. I think I’d be interested in a hybrid myself.
Yes, it is very sad isn't it? We placed it under protection and now we are going to destroy it ourselves. It's amazing what some will do without thinking of the consequences first. I strongly believe that there are solutions and other options. We really need to do something to protect and preserve these areas and the creatures living there or else (as abahr brought up with the manatees) there will be nothing left to save.
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