[Testrackwoman]

This article was in my local paper and I thought I would share it with you and get your thoughts and opinions.


Energy drilling off Florida's coast - for years, considered a kind of political kryptonite - is back on the front burner in Congress.

Nothing might change this year. But $4-a-gallon gas and Tuesday's call by Sen. John McCain for more offshore drilling are loosening opposition by Florida's congressional Republicans and Gov. Charlie Crist.

And President Bush plans a renewed push to get Congress to end a long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas drilling. White House press secretary Dana Perino told The Associated Press that Bush today will urge lawmakers to lift the ban.

McCain, whose presidential chances may be tied to winning Florida, proposed dropping a 1990s drilling moratorium that he backed during his 2000 presidential campaign. He now says each state should decide whether to allow drilling.

Crist, a McCain supporter and a potential vice-presidential candidate, also softened his previously adamant opposition. He said offshore drilling is something he would "least like to do" - but added he couldn't now rule it out.

"Floridians are suffering, and when you're paying over $4 a gallon for gas, you have to wonder whether there might be additional resources that we might be able to utilize to bring that price down," Crist said. "I applaud (McCain) for his idea. I think it's something that should be studied."

Democrats were quick to scoff.

"If John McCain jumps off a cliff, will Charlie Crist jump, too?" said Florida Democratic Party spokesman Mark Bubriski.

A proposal to all ow drilling in currently banned areas will come up today in the House Appropriations Committee. It failed in subcommittee last week on a party-line vote, with all Democrats opposed, and likely will fail again today.

But its sponsor, Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., said he'll keep bringing the measure up.

"If we don't open up our supply of oil and gas, we don't have an economic future. The folks have figured it out; the politicians haven't," Peterson said, noting Florida is particularly dependent on natural gas to generate electricity.

Proponents note that Florida gets one-third of its electricity from natural gas and that improved technology makes oil spills that would foul the state's beaches highly unlikely.

U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, the Orlando Republican who in 2006 engineered a compromise barring drilling within 125 miles of Florida's west coast through 2022, said he hopes McCain will support continuing that protection. If so, he said, he "could probably live with" McCain's proposal.

Several Central Florida House members also backed McCain, including GOP Reps, Tom Feeney of Oviedo, Cliff Stearns of Ocala and Dave Weldon of Indialantic.

Drilling along large swaths of coastline is blocked by a presidential moratorium that extends to 2012 and a congressional ban.

Oil companies eye the Gulf of Mexico off Florida because it's thought to hold large pockets of oil and natural gas.

But Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said the oil in the area is only enough to supply the nation for 10 months. Drilling, he said, would threaten the environment and the military training done in the eastern Gulf - and would not lower prices at the gas pump.

This article was written by Tamara Lytle and was published on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 in the Orlando Sentinel.