TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Echoing last year’s "Drill, baby, drill” election slogan, a GOP-dominated House panel voted Tuesday to allow oil and natural gas exploration and production in Florida waters up to 10 miles into the Gulf of Mexico.
In a mostly party-line vote — only one Democrat voted for it — the House Policy Council approved a bill being pushed by Associated Industries of Florida that would repeal the state’s drilling ban. It would let the governor and Florida Cabinet lease submerged state lands in the eastern gulf for drilling.
That authority would not apply beyond 10 miles, where federal law prohibits drilling within 125 miles of Florida’s coast. The bill is a long way from becoming law, however — it still needs approval from the full House, and a companion measure is stalled in the Senate.
Drilling views change
At one point, Republicans and Democrats maintained opposition to offshore drilling, fearing spills and other pollution could damage Florida’s beaches and multibillion-dollar tourism economy.
Most Republicans, though, abandoned their opposition to offshore drilling when their 2008 presidential candidate, Arizona Sen. John McCain, embraced it as a solution to $4-a-gallon gasoline and the nation’s reliance on imported oil.
Associated Industries gave lawmakers a slide show and glossy printed handouts. Associated Industries President and Chief Executive Barney Bishop was accompanied by an economist, pollster and two attorneys, one of them a Texas oil lawyer.
They said the state would receive $31 billion from drilling in a 20-year span, saying most Floridians favor the idea and that it could be done without harm to the environment.
The amendment, filed Monday, caught off guard environmentalists who oppose drilling, including Debbie Harrison of the World Wildlife Fund.
"Please do not allow people who are being compensated most generously to articulate on behalf of the oil industry to talk to you about the environmental sensitivity of oil drilling,” Harrison said.
Republican Rep. Dean Cannon said his amendment would merely begin a drilling dialogue, leaving the decision to the governor and Cabinet on a case-by-case basis.
"This amendment does not authorize any actual oil or natural gas exploration,” Cannon said. "It does, however, open that possibility.”
Florida Audubon lobbyist Eric Draper argued it favors drilling. It places the burden proof on the state to show the drilling would be harmful before an application could be rejected, Draper said.
by the associated press
In a mostly party-line vote — only one Democrat voted for it — the House Policy Council approved a bill being pushed by Associated Industries of Florida that would repeal the state’s drilling ban. It would let the governor and Florida Cabinet lease submerged state lands in the eastern gulf for drilling.
That authority would not apply beyond 10 miles, where federal law prohibits drilling within 125 miles of Florida’s coast. The bill is a long way from becoming law, however — it still needs approval from the full House, and a companion measure is stalled in the Senate.
Drilling views change
At one point, Republicans and Democrats maintained opposition to offshore drilling, fearing spills and other pollution could damage Florida’s beaches and multibillion-dollar tourism economy.
Most Republicans, though, abandoned their opposition to offshore drilling when their 2008 presidential candidate, Arizona Sen. John McCain, embraced it as a solution to $4-a-gallon gasoline and the nation’s reliance on imported oil.
Associated Industries gave lawmakers a slide show and glossy printed handouts. Associated Industries President and Chief Executive Barney Bishop was accompanied by an economist, pollster and two attorneys, one of them a Texas oil lawyer.
They said the state would receive $31 billion from drilling in a 20-year span, saying most Floridians favor the idea and that it could be done without harm to the environment.
The amendment, filed Monday, caught off guard environmentalists who oppose drilling, including Debbie Harrison of the World Wildlife Fund.
"Please do not allow people who are being compensated most generously to articulate on behalf of the oil industry to talk to you about the environmental sensitivity of oil drilling,” Harrison said.
Republican Rep. Dean Cannon said his amendment would merely begin a drilling dialogue, leaving the decision to the governor and Cabinet on a case-by-case basis.
"This amendment does not authorize any actual oil or natural gas exploration,” Cannon said. "It does, however, open that possibility.”
Florida Audubon lobbyist Eric Draper argued it favors drilling. It places the burden proof on the state to show the drilling would be harmful before an application could be rejected, Draper said.
by the associated press
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