TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (The News Service of Florida) - A national coalition with deep Florida ties brought its message of pro-offshore oil and natural gas exploration to the state capital Wednesday.
Calling itself a bipartisan group of politicians, business groups, and petroleum interests from across the country, the Explore Offshore coalition is promoting access to domestic offshore fuel.
The group feels the prospects of exploring for oil and gas closer to shore will benefit consumers by potentially creating jobs and additional government revenue while strengthening national security.
Former Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp, a co-chair of the coalition, says the proposal shouldn’t be seen as a return to a 2008 Republican campaign slogan, which two years later became an embarrassment after the deadly Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
“We are not talking today, by the way, about ‘drill baby drill’. We’re talking about ‘explore baby explore’. Let’s find out what energy resources we have off the coast of Florida," said Kottkamp.
Environmentalists, including Bradley Marshall with Earthjustice, continue to recount the BP disaster’s impact, particularly upon the economics of Florida’s Panhandle, in expressing opposition to the Trump administration’s plan to open previously protected parts of the Atlantic Ocean and eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling.
“In Florida, we have millions of jobs that are dependent upon tourism. They are dependent on having clean beaches," said Marshall. "The bottom line is that it would be irresponsible to put that at risk.”
Many Florida officials, including Governor Rick Scott, Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Noah Valenstein and members of Florida’s congressional delegation from both sides of the political aisle have denounced the possibility of drilling near the nation’s outer continental shelf.
However, the Explore Offshore coalition says the need for energy continues to increase, with Florida now being nation’s third largest consumer of motor fuel and electricity, much of which is generated by natural gas.
