* Over the past 40 years, oil companies have drilled about 10,000 wells across the Gulf of Mexico. Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were willing to overlook the pollution, trash, and tar balls that washed ashore in exchange for a rich bounty of cash and jobs.
* The area south of 26 degrees North Latitude, approximately 100 miles south of the Florida Panhandle, and all waters outside of Lease Sale 181 in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, have been under a Congressional and Presidential moratorium for offshore oil and gas exploration and development thanks to strong citizen opposition.
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* Keys citizens united in the 1990's to oppose oil & gas development based on the impact it would have to our coral reefs, mangroves, beaches, and tourism. Black Friday was a day when all businesses closed and everyone joined a parade and then spoke at a public hearing for over 6 hours.
* In January, 2006, without public review or comment, Lease Sale 181 was removed from Florida's jurisdiction and given to Louisiana via a revised "Seaward Boundary Lines Extension in the Federal Register" effectively removing our Governor's ability to formally oppose drilling in this area
* New legislation pending in Congress will open up the Eastern Gulf of Mexico including Lease Sale 181, for drilling. There are three bills - one in the house, two in the Senate - under consideration.
* Florida Senator Bill Nelson has threatened a filibuster. Nelson and Florida Senator Mel Martinez sponsored Senate Bill 2239 to reduce the impact of a bill filed earlier by Domenici/Bingham, SB2253.
* There are an estimated 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Dominici bill which excludes portions of Lease sale 181 and within 100 miles of the Florida coast, including an area east of the military mission line that the military says is important to training needs.
* The Nelson/Martinez bill would keep drilling as far as 260 miles off Florida's west coast and 150 miles off the Panhandle and the east coast. It provides a buffer zone for military training. It does include roughly 700,000 acres in Lease Sale 181.
* The house bill led by Richard Pombo would turn over oil royalties to coastal states such as Louisiana and would open up Lease Sale 181 to drilling immediately. After 2012, all U.S. waters on the entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts would be open to gas exploration as close as 25 miles offshore and oil exploration as close as 50 miles. States such as Florida could keep drilling 125 miles offshore in a dangerous petitioning process to the Interior Dept.
* 9 coastal governors oppose the current pending legislation including Oregon, Washington, California, Connecticut, South Carolina, Maine, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Delaware. Jeb Bush of Florida helped write the house legislation and has also said he supports the Nelson/Martinez Senate bill.
* Congress is expected to recess for the elections without issuing compromise legislation. Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa)says: "We're hoping when we head back we can move the ball. There will be more vehicles in the lame duck (session) than now."
How Will It Affect the Florida Keys?
* The Gulf Loop Current will carry routine drilling muds into the backwaters of the Lower Florida Keys if this Eastern Gulf area is opened up to oil & gas exploration and drilling
* This area is a shrimp and lobster breeding area; the currents would then wrap around the Keys and carry the currents up the reef tract
* The U.S. Minerals Management Services said drilling anywhere in Lease Sale 181 is "expected to result in small pollution events that could temporarily affect the enjoyment or use of some beach segments in Alabama and Florida." The agency estimated that over 40 years, there could be up to 870 spills of 2,000 gallons or less.
* The U.S. EPA., in a study of Lease Sale 181, warned that if there were a spill, "there is as great as a 47% chance that the slick would reach Florida's coastal waters before dissipating. And routine chemical discharges of such pollutants as barium, chromium and arsenic would introduce significant quantities of contaminants to these relatively pristine waters. All 12 rigs proposed would contribute about 1.65-billion pounds per year of contaminants which could lead to the long term regional degradation of offshore water quality. "
* Oceanographers warn that:
"We are more at risk from spills in the vicinity of the loop current." Christopher Mooers, Un. Miami professor of applied marine physics.
"It could affect the beaches and reefs all the way up the East Coast," Robert Weisberg, oceanography professor at Un. So. Fla. who has spent years studying the gulf.
"If any messy stuff should be at the surface in the vicinity of the loop current, it s going to be carried with it, that's for sure," Wilton Sturges, a retired Florida State University oceanography professor.
Sturges did a study for Chevron that " showed under worst-case conditions the spilled stuff could be brought ashore...much faster than any response team could get there to clean it up. Most bad things happen during nasty weather, when the difficulties of clean-up are at their worst."
* Routine drilling muds release thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals into the environment, harm fish, corals and marine mammals, and place Florida at risk of a large or catastrophic spill.
* Fossil fuel use increases global warming and increased sea temperatures that are causing devastating coral bleaching at the reef
* Fossil fuel use releases mercury into the food chain and toxic gases into the atmosphere
* The U.S. Coast Guard reports that: "This year, the warm water of the Loop Current fueled Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as they tore through the offshore oil rigs, pipelines and refineries in the central and western gulf. More than 7-million gallons of petroleum products spilled. By comparison, in 1989 the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons. Smaller spills are common. There were more than 239,000 oil spills between 1973 and 2001.
What are the Alternatives?
* Raising fuel standards on cars would save more oil that new offshore oil wells in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico could provide.
* Ethanol and bio-diesel use would benefit American farmers and reduce our dependence on Arab royalty, Muslim clerics and South American dictators
* Conservation would reduce our overall consumption
* This is the Sunshine State - what about solar? The Florida Legislature took the first steps to create a rebate to provide incentives for ownership of solar systems by consumers and businesses. California has a 10-year commitment including a credit on your electric bill for producing extra energy.
* U.S. Military operations are sending our youth to war. Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what renewable energy can do to protect your country.
What can we do?
* Oppose any new offshore oil & gas leasing & development affecting Florida's coast
* Permanently cancel the 90+ existing and active leases, some as close as 11 miles from our coast. Compensate the leasees through rents due and royalty forgiveness for other current drilling activities.
* Support new Congressional moratoria against offshore oil drilling near Florida and other fragile coastal areas
* Encourage extension of the Presidential Executive Order that bans leasing off America's east and west coasts and parts of Alaska from 2012 to 2020.
* Cancel any activity in Lease Sale 181 and establish a 150-mile buffer zone against drilling on Florida's east coast.
* Support the use of alternative fuels such as ethanol, bio-diesel and solar.
* Support increased energy conservation in everyday actions.
* Send in your letter today to your
Congressmen and to newspapers in your area or these
Florida newspapers.
Write to your Senators, Governors and Congressmen today
to urge them to save our coasts right now, before it's
too late, and remember this story of political intrigue
when it comes time to vote this November. Our coastal
areas depend on the outcome, and its very survival can
no longer be assured. Comments to Congress are most
important right now no matter where you live but
especially for Florida residents and those who value our
coral reefs and beaches and the fisheries and tourism
they support. Cut and paste the letter below and mail it
to your Congressmen. To find your Congressman, go to
http://www.congress.org. Follow the instructions to send
them an email letter or mail them a letter.
Florida Senators are: Honorable Senator Bill
Nelson, 716 Senate Hart Office Building, Washington, DC
20510, and Honorable Senator Mel Martinez, 317 Hart
Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510.
Dear Senator/Governor/Representative:
I urge you to protect Florida and other fragile coastal
areas from offshore oil and gas exploration and
development. House bill, HR 4761, also known as the
Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act, is a dangerous
assault on long-standing protections and is also
fiscally unsound. In addition, the bill approved by the
Senate to open up Florida to offshore oil is equally
dangerous for our fragile marine environments. We must
oppose all efforts to open up Florida to offshore oil
and gas development. We cannot afford to sacrifice
Florida coral reefs, beaches, fisheries and tourism and
valuable other national shorelines to offshore oil & gas
when simple conservation measures and adoption of
renewal sources of energy would do far more to meet our
energy needs. Nor can we afford to give billions of
dollars away from the federal treasury to reward
oil-producing states.
I am opposed to these bills and the concept of increasing domestic oil and gas development along our priceless ocean coastlines and hope that you will do your part to ensure that Florida and other fragile coastal areas are protected from ANY new offshore oil and gas development.
Very truly yours,
Name
Address