GOBP of FL resists Charlie Crist's call for special session to ban near-shore drilling

[Orlandodem]

Tallahassee — Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday called the Florida Legislature into special session July 20 to 23 to consider a constitutional ban on near-shore oil drilling, a move Republican legislative leaders called a political ploy that won't accomplish anything.

The governor, who is making a no-party bid for U.S. Senate, called the session 80 days after the BP deep-water oil well exploded off the Louisiana coast, fouling the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Panhandle beaches with crude oil.

State law has prohibited drilling in state waters — within 3 to 10 miles of the coastline — since 1990, although there had been a two-year legislative effort in Tallahassee to lift the ban before the BP oil spill. Crist's proposal would put the ban in the Florida Constitution, which only voters can change.

"I feel a compelling duty to protect Florida," Crist told reporters. "I'm going to be governor for about six more months, and I think I would not be doing my duty as governor if I didn't call this special session."


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