The Return Of Oilman
We have too many issues decided by initiatives in this state, but that is the only way we can stop the criminal conspiracy that the legislature has become from pulling stunts like this.
The Miami Herald reports that a Florida House panel OK’s oil drilling bill
TALLAHASSEE — In a full-barreled appeal to the House Policy Council, the oil and gas industry persuaded lawmakers to vote, 17-6, along party lines Tuesday for a bill that opens state waters to exploration and taps into new revenues for the state’s ailing budget.
The council approved an amendment by Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Orlando, that would lift Florida’s ban on oil drilling in state waters and replace it with a plan to allow the governor and Florida Cabinet to seek bidders for exploration and drilling in the Gulf of Mexico between three and 10 miles offshore.
There are no revenues for years, if ever, and the construction off the coast will destroy the value of beach homeowners and the tourism industry. The Republicans don’t want to put the state on a real, sustainable tax system, but keep looking for “silver bullets” and other ways of funding the programs they approve of without having to give up on all of their give-aways to business interests.
Drilling for oil is a source of pollution. There is no environmentally sensitive way of doing it, and we are moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. This is another get-rich-quick scheme from a group of people too lazy to do their jobs.
2 comments
Color this penguin puzzled. One problem Louisiana has with the oil and gas industry is that the state gets nothing (nada, zip) from any oil exploration beyond the 3 mile line, yet has all the environmental impact from that exploration.
Ah, a Google search resolves that problem. Somehow West Florida’s limit is 10 miles due to the details of the treaty that brought West Florida into the United States. Huh.
As I’ve previously pointed out, 95% of the land and sea area of the United States has been explored and exploited. That’s 95% of the potential oil has already been exploited. It took us 95 years to use up all that oil in that 95%. So the remaining 5% contains, at most, 5 years of oil for the USA (probably less since we’re using oil faster than ever now). Frankly, given the costs, I wouldn’t consider this a particularly useful thing to do (more offshore drilling, that is). But then, I’m a sane and sensible bird with a nice almond-sized bird brain, as vs. a pea-brain like the antediluvian dinosaurs of the Florida legislature…
We have natural gas off the coast. We know this because we are already tapping the reserves on dry land. We don’t actually have anything that looks like oil in the formations off the coast, that is to the West.
It will be years before anything will be done, but if you sell them the leases, someone will eventually use them.
The coast is already over-built, and putting in platforms is not going to endear the state to the owners of those properties.
Finally, with the way the polar ice caps are melting, what is today within Florida’s control, will soon be Federal as the sea level rises, so why bother screwing around with the state?