Florida Votes to drilling in the Gulf

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

Offshore drilling plans canceled by Appeals Court

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the Bush administration did not properly study the environmental impact of expanding oil and gas drilling off the Alaska coast and canceled a program to find new reserves.

A three-judge panel in Washington found that the Bush-era Interior Department failed to consider the effect on the environment and marine life before it began the process in August 2005 to expand an oil and gas leasing program in the Beaufort, Bering and Chukchi seas.

The appeals court ordered the department, now run by President Barack Obama’s appointee Ken Salazar, to analyze the areas to determine environmental risks and potential damage before moving ahead with the program.

The seas are home to wildlife including polar bears, whales, seals, walruses and seabirds. The lawsuit was brought by three environmental groups that want to protect the ecosystem and the Native Village of Point Hope, Alaska, a tribe that lives off the wildlife on the Chukchi Sea coast.

Appeals court cancels offshore drilling plans
Panel rules Bush administration failed to assess environmental risks
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Buzz up!BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 18, 2009
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the Bush administration did not properly study the environmental impact of expanding oil and gas drilling off the Alaska coast and canceled a program to find new reserves.

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A three-judge panel in Washington found that the Bush-era Interior Department failed to consider the effect on the environment and marine life before it began the process in August 2005 to expand an oil and gas leasing program in the Beaufort, Bering and Chukchi seas.

The appeals court ordered the department, now run by President Barack Obama’s appointee Ken Salazar, to analyze the areas to determine environmental risks and potential damage before moving ahead with the program.

The seas are home to wildlife including polar bears, whales, seals, walruses and seabirds. The lawsuit was brought by three environmental groups that want to protect the ecosystem and the Native Village of Point Hope, Alaska, a tribe that lives off the wildlife on the Chukchi Sea coast.


Dwindling U.S. output
The decision comes at a time when oil and gas producers are finding it increasingly difficult to find new reserves and boost production at home and abroad. Output from the biggest U.S. oil companies has largely been in decline in the past few years.
Even though most people recognize the names of the giant multinationals — Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP and others — they control less than 10 percent of the world’s oil reserves. Most proven reserves — about 80 percent — are held by national, state-run companies like those in Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.

The American Petroleum Institute, the industry’s trade association which joined the lawsuit to defend the program, said Friday it’s reviewing the implications of the court’s decision.

"It would be a disservice to all Americans — and a devastating blow to the economy — if this decision were to delay further the development of vital oil and natural gas resources,” the organization said in a statement. "Development in federal waters off the nation’s coast provides thousands of well-paying jobs, government revenues and the fuel needed to run America’s cars and factories, heat our homes and the feedstock needed to make the materials we use every day.”

The Interior Department did not comment other than to say it was reviewing the decision. The department had already delayed the leasing program by five years to complete environmental studies.

Attorney William Snape, who argued the case for the environmentalists before the appeals court, said the species in the area are already under significant environmental threat because of global warming. He said Interior Secretary Salazar has sent mixed signals on how he’ll handle drilling in the outer continental shelf, but the ruling is a chance for the new administration to protect the sensitive areas.

by the associated press