Additional Voices Against Offshore Oil Drilling

Given that economic benefits are frequently touted as a reason to increase offshore oil drilling, it is significant that Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink has opposed a proposal to open Florida’s coastline to oil exploration, saying it would jeopardize the state’s public land and threaten the tourist industry.

And fishermen in many areas are concerned. On the West Coast, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Association has reaffirmed its 30-plus years of opposition to offshore drilling.

That's not all -- even the military is concerned that training exercises may be affected by oil operations off the Florida coast. This is also a concern in Virginia, where State Delegate Joe Bouchard, who is also a former Commanding Officer at the Norfolk Naval Station, has stated that the federally proposed lease area for drilling off Virginia presents a high risk as it is located within the U.S. Department of Defense’s VACAPES military training area.

Some Sanity in Florida

After the Florida House of Representatives voted 70-43 to sell out their beaches to the promise of oil drilling revenues by allowing drilling within 3 miles of the shore, Senate leaders and Governor Charlie Crist called at least a tempoary halt to the madness.

"I'm not receptive to it," said Senate President Jeff Atwater.

Crist said that he was concerned about the "lateness of the hour'' and the "closeness to shore'' of the plan to give the governor and Cabinet authority to accept applications for oil and gas drilling between 3 and 10 miles off Florida's beaches.

"I think [Rep. Dean] Cannon is leading his party off the cliff," said Eric Draper, lobbyist for the Florida Audubon Society. "This is an idea brought in by Texas oil companies who are interested in the right to drill in Florida and doing it on the cheap." More

Fossil Fuels are Not the Answer

Thanks to Steve Greenberg of the Ventura County Reporter for sharing his cartoon. Click here to check out more of Steve's work.

Not the Answer in San Francisco

Sierra Club's Allison Chin (in a Not the Answer t-shirt) and lots of Surfrider Not the Answer signs at the San Francisco OCS Hearing:

Oil Drilling: Pointless

Are you a PIMBY?

What's a PIMBY?

A PIMBY -is someone who says, Please In My Back Yard!

How many PIMBY's are in Southern CA?

We don't know, but there's a good chance your congressional representatives might be.

Let them know you don't want our coastlines sacrificed as part of a "grand bargain" - see below.

From the New Yorker:

Obama's White House is filled with former members of Congress and congressional staffers. They are legislative strategists and dealmakers, and these days they often use the phrase "grand bargain" when asked how they expect to achieve their ambitious agenda. The senior White House official told me that they were exploring an energy deal that would include a "serious" and "short-term" increase in domestic production-perhaps opening up for oil exploration places like the waters off the coast of California-that would appease the "Drill, baby, drill" crowd, while also adopting a cap-and-trade plan that could take effect one or two (or more) years after 2012, which is when Obama's current plan would start. "You need to have something like T. Boone Pickens and Al Gore holding hands on a broad compromise," the official said. Such a plan wouldn't look much like the one in Obama's budget proposal-more like a third cousin than like a sibling, let alone a twin-but, unlike his current plan, it could get through Congress.

California Legislature Believes our Beaches are Worth Protecting

In contrast to Florida (see below), the CA State Assembly appropriately celebrated Earth Day when Assemblymember Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) and Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) led California's strong legislative opposition to expansion of off-shore oil drilling. The California State Assembly approved Nava's Assembly Joint Resolution 3.

"My colleagues in the Legislature sent a strong message on behalf of all Californians, that we do not want increased offshore oil and gas drilling and demand reinstatement of the federal moratorium," said Nava. "Not only is this an environmental issue, but is also an economic one. Almost a million jobs and billions of dollars are created and produced by coastal recreation, tourism and the fishing industry. Our coast must be protected for future generations."

"Drilling off California's coast is a bad idea," said Assemblymember Noreen Evans. "All the oil off our coast would supply our nation with enough gas for only 17 months and would have no effect on gas prices. But it would cost us far more in lost tourism and risk another oil spill. That's a price Californian's don't want to pay." Assembly Joint Resolution 3 by Assemblymember Pedro Nava and Assemblymember Noreen Evans requests that the Congress of the United States reinstate the federal offshore oil and gas leasing moratorium for the 2009 fiscal year and beyond. The measure also memorializes the Legislature's opposition to the proposed expansion of oil and gas drilling off the Pacific Coast and any federal energy policies and legislation that would weaken California's role in energy siting decisions.