Offshore Drilling Dead

The Florida Congressional delegation sent Gov. Charlie Crist a letter. The delegation urged Crist not to support allowing drilling three miles from the Florida coast.

Dear Governor Crist:

We write to commend you on your announcement voicing opposition to combining renewable energy legislation with a bill to open Florida's state waters to near-shore oil drilling. As you know, clean renewable energy is Florida's future, not oil rigs three-to-ten-miles offshore along our coast.

For decades, Florida's elected officials from both parties have stood together to protect our state's economy and environment from irresponsible drilling. Yet with just a few days left in the Florida Legislature's annual session, the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow oil and gas companies to apply for drilling leases as close as three miles to Florida's shore. Thankfully, this measure was blocked in the Senate.

The bill is HB 1219. Rep. Charlie Van Zant made a series of bizarre remarks in support of offshore drilling. Crist and Senate President Jeff Atwater told the media there wasn't enough time to consider the House bill.

"I'm not receptive to it," Atwater said. "That is a really, significantly important issue. It'd be very difficult to imagine that's part of an end game for this session."

Crist Monday also told the Herald he was troubled by the "lateness of the hour" as well as by the "closeness to shore" of the bill's provisions, which would allow drilling between 3 and 10 miles off Florida's Gulf of Mexico coastline.

Expect another push for offshore drilling next year.