who are offering the state money to fix its budget. And it appears the legislature might be falling for it, while Charlie Crist is being more cautious.
They waited until near the end of the session to bring it up, catching environmental groups off guard.
Unidentified oil and gas companies are bankrolling a last-minute fight to bring offshore drilling to Florida's coastline.Florida Energy Associates, a corporation formed in December by Daytona Beach lawyer Doug Daniels, has hired at least 20 of the state's most prominent lobbyists to push bills through the legislature in the final week of session. Most of the lobbyists were hired in the last 10 days but the proposal has been planned for months. The measure, slated for votes in the House and Senate this week, would give the governor and Cabinet authority to approve oil and gas exploration 3 to 10 miles off the Florida coast.
RUSHED
The sudden appearance of the issue near the end of a troubled legislative session has sparked outrage from environmental groups and Democrats in both houses who question why it surfaced with little time for discussion and debate.
Gov. Charlie Crist initially said he was willing to look at the measure but has since questioned the way lawmakers have rushed the bill through.
The brother of Pete Sessions is apparently one of the lobbyists from Texas.
The group intends to use a seismic tool that uses satellite technology to pinpoint oil and gas reserves, said M. Lance Phillips, a Texas lawyer who is a principal partner in Florida Energy Associates. He said the investors believe Florida's potential includes ''several major oil fields,'' within the Gulf of Mexico. Phillips of Mexia, Texas, and Dallas lawyer William Lewis Sessions appeared before a House committee considering the issue last week. Phillips owns Oil and Gas Acquisitions, an independent oil and gas exploration company, and is the chairman of the Limestone County Republican Party. Sessions, the son of former FBI Director William Sessions and brother of Texas congressman Pete Sessions, represents oil company clients, as well as the Cherokee Indians of Texas.
Daniels, the Daytona Beach lawyer who formed the corporation, says others helping finance the campaign ``prefer not to have the notoriety.''
''They prefer not to have other people in the oil business know they are looking in Florida,'' Daniels said Saturday.
An op ed at the Tallahassee.com website tells about all the promises made to Alabama about oil rigs. It points out the realities.
David McGrath: The hazards of offshore drilling threaten FloridaHeavier than air, hydrogen sulfide settles in low areas, and according to the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, can inflict "nausea, headaches, delirium, disturbed equilibrium, tremors, convulsions and skin and eye irritation. Inhalation of high concentration of hydrogen sulfide can produce extremely rapid unconsciousness and death."
Understandably, the oil CEOs from Texas lately lobbying Detert and the others to repeal Florida's moratorium on offshore rigs did not volunteer this information. But our legislators can, if they choose, access a wealth of medical data and death statistics from America's coal mining industry, which has had a long and macabre history with hydrogen sulfide.
Or they can consult with federal scientists who have found mercury in the drilling mud at the bottom of the aforementioned Alabama contraptions, in greater concentrations than what was tested at the infamous Superfund Site of Love Canal in New York. To be fair, Detert and cohorts claim they want to raise more revenue through drilling leases, and to make Florida and America more energy independent.
Yet the citizens of Alabama, even after selling out its environmental soul to Big Oil half a century ago, have enjoyed little if any of the profits from approximately 50 oil and gas rigs off its shores, and actually pay more for natural gas and home heating oil than any other state in the union. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley has been waging a yearlong fight with oil companies over their "creative" accounting practices that have somehow denied the state and its citizens its pledged commissions — the same companies now making promises to Florida, if only we would agree to foul our coastline and jeopardize our indispensable tourism industry.
Senator Bill Nelson and State CFO Alex Sink are fighting this issue, and they are making their voices heard. Otherwise, I have mostly heard silence.
I remember when the
Senate Gang of 10 put forth proposals last year that would have pretty much ended any restriction on drilling off Florida's shoreline.
I don't remember all the details, but I remember 3 of them were Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, and Max Baucus. There were 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans in the Gang of 10. Here is a statement about their plans. I don't know if any of this went through or not.
The proposal would end most of the ban on drilling. It would allow a 50-mile buffer on the East Coast, as well as Florida's Gulf Coast. Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina would be permitted to start oil and natural gas exploration outside the buffer.
..."The Gang of 10 proposal would encourage states to allow drilling off their shores by sharing some of the federal offshore royalty revenues with the states. But unlike the other four states, Florida would not get a choice on whether to allow drilling off its coasts. When asked why not, Chambliss said, "It's only a logical extension of what's happening in the Gulf right now. Plus, that area has been identified as an area where resources are available right now."
Using Florida's economic vulnerability to push through drilling up to 3 miles from the shore. I would give that as an example of disaster capitalism. Hope Charlie doesn't fall for it.
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