VAN ZANT
House passes bill to allow offshore drilling
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
Associated Press Writer
Publication Date: 04/28/09
TALLAHASSEE -- The promise of money and jobs and the desire to reduce dependence on foreign oil beat out arguments that offshore drilling could harm the environment and hurt tourism as the House passed a bill Monday that could allow wells three miles off Florida's coast.
The governor and three-member Cabinet would be able to approve drilling leases in state waters between three and 10.5 miles from shore under the plan.
Rep. Charles Van Zant, the bill's sponsor, said the proposal could attract a new industry to Florida while helping free the U.S. from relying on unfriendly OPEC countries. He said drilling could reap more than $6 billion annually for the state and create more than 16,000 jobs.
"No one in this chamber rode a bicycle here today," Van Zant, R-Keystone Heights, said before the vote, capping two hours of debate on the bill (HB 1219).
Democrats countered that spills would devastate tourism, the state's top industry.
"This is something serious, a dagger in the heart of the economy in my district and the districts of other coastal communities," said Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, a Sarasota Democrat. "Just the smallest of spills will send people elsewhere."
He and other Democrats questioned whether the amount of oil off the state's coast wouldn't even supply the nation for half a year.
"History will judge us on this vote, whether it be 10 years or 20 years," said Rep. Richard Steinberg, D-Miami Beach. "We are gambling with the future of Florida."
The bill next goes to the Senate, which has no similar legislation and has shown little interest in the proposal.
"I'm not receptive to it," said Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach. "That is a really significantly important issue and one that I think would, frankly at our end, would take some serious review."
Atwater said there isn't time to thoroughly examine the idea with the 60-day regular legisative session scheduled to end Friday, nor was he sure it could be adquately done during a special session later this year.
The largely party line vote in the House was 70-43. Only two Democrats voted for the bill and just three Republicans voted against it.
Supporters argued that drilling technology has advanced to the point where spills are highly unlikely, and that pumps can be put on the sea floor unseen from shore.
And many Republicans argued that it's better to drill in American waters than to hand money over to Middle East nations that hate the United States.
"A vote for this bill is a vote for America. It is a vote for our way of life," said Greg Evers, a Republican from Baker in the western Florida Panhandle. "And a vote against this bill is a vote for OPEC."
Gov. Charlie Crist said last week that he was "open minded" about the bill, but before the vote he expressed some caution, saying he was concerned that the idea wasn't discussed until late in the two-month session that ends Friday and that drilling would be close to shore.
But he didn't express opposition.
"It may have some promise. What I mean by that is if the technology can be proven, if it can be shown to be safe, I'm sympathetic to the notion we might be able to be more independent in terms of weaning off our dependence on foreign oil," Crist said.
He said he hopes the issue doesn't get tied to his push to require power companies to use more renewable energy.
The bill has upset members of the state's delegation in Washington who have fought to keep drilling out of federal waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
"This bill jeopardizes Florida's $65 billion-a-year tourism economy and thousands of jobs in the middle of a serious economic downturn for our state," said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. "I urge Governor Crist to veto this short-sighted legislation should it pass."
She added: "Instead of pandering to Big Oil, the Florida Legislature should be leading the way to alternative sources of energy."
Former Gov. Bob Graham, a Democrat who also served in the U.S. Senate for three terms, said the state action could hurt Florida's efforts on the federal level.
"This will undermine them like a tsunami hitting off the Gulf coast," Graham said.
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/042809/state_042809_024.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
No comments:
Post a Comment