Hands Across the Sand-Join us to stop near shore Oil Drilling In Florida Waters

[Dave Rauschkolb]

"Hands" is growing across the State. Join Hands with us to protect our Coastal Legacy

The Audubon Society, The Surfrider Foundation, The Sierra Club, Progress Florida and Protect Florida's Beaches are joining hands with us. Senator Dennis L. Jones (R) and former Senator Jack Latvala(R) are the beginning of a growing line of leaders joining hands with us.

Every Chamber of Commerce from Pensacola to Panama City have passed resolutions against this legislation.

We will be posting the names of all of our partners against Texas oil in our waters on the "Hands" Website.

We will also post those members of The Florida House of Representatives who voted to allow Texas Oil to foul our waters and beaches. We will post those who plan on voting for this Folly for Florida as well.

Senator Durell Peaden(R) of Crestview has gone on record as being against this legislation. It is our sincere hope our own Senator Don Gaetz(R), as our Coastal Senator, will also Join Hands with us. I will be meeting with Florida Senators across the state to ask in person their position on this important issue for our beloved Florida.

We must not let anonymous Texas Oilmen redefine our Coastal Legacy of clean waters, clean beaches, tourism and our Florida way of life. We Floridians must protect this legacy for our Children and Grandchildren, for ourselves and for the millions of guests who enjoy our beautiful Sunshine State.

Join Hands with us at Hands Across The Sand | A gathering of citizens of Florida to prevent near shore oil drilling in Florida's coastal waters.

 

[David Pleat]

The Destin City Council passed a resolution last night opposing drilling in State waters joining all area chambers and the Walton County Commissioners against this attempt to jeapardize our economy and environment. When will our elected officials get the message? The plain message coming out of the panhandle is "No to Texas Oil threatening our economy and taking our most important natural treasure."

 

[Dave Rauschkolb]

The truth the Texas Oilmen don't want you to know

NEWS RELEASE

November 2, 2009 Contacts: David J. Cullen, Sierra Club Florida, 941.323.2404

Tony Sasso, Surfrider Foundation, 321.258.8217

TALLAHASSEE ? Yet another oil well has sprung a leak in the Timor Sea. The new gas leak, reported late last week, is in the same general region as one off the coast of Australia that has been hemorrhaging oil, gas and condensate for more than 10 weeks now and has produced a slick covering a 3,720-square-mile area.

Meanwhile, just this past Friday, an oil tanker with a suspected mechanical failure dumped between 400 to 800 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay, creating an oil slick three miles long. Incredibly, supporters of lifting a ban on drilling in near-shore waters off the Gulf Coast of Florida continue to insist the industry is safe and poses no threat to the environment or to Florida?s tourism-dependent beach communities, prompting 30 communities and organizations to date to pass resolutions in opposition.

?The claims of safety are meant to blow smoke and sow confusion. Typical advertising,? said David Cullen of Sierra Club Florida. ?You don?t have to look as far away as Australia to see the ill-effects of drilling on our environment and communities around the Gulf of Mexico.?

According to just one of the many public sources reporting oil spills, hurricanes, transportation mishaps, human errors and old fashioned well blowouts since 1993 have flushed a total of at least 7.4 million gallons of gas and oil into the Gulf of Mexico and the rivers that feed it over the past 16 years to devastating effect.

[Sixteen incidents culled from a site maintained by NOAA are attached to this news release. Oil spill incidents in the NOAA southeast region may be found at http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/southeast/index.html.]

"This is not a one time gamble," noted Cullen. "They'll be out there drilling for years. And the more they drill, the more certain it is that there will be a spill that affects Florida. Mathematically, the risks eventually catch up with us."

The truth is that the industry is not safe and even small spills can have a disastrous effect on beach communities and environments, said Tony Sasso, a former member of the Florida House of Representatives and a current member of the Florida Surfrider Foundation.

"Either these oil lobbyists have thrown the truth under the bus or they are getting their information from another planet,? said Sasso. ?The actual facts are clear, abundant and available from the Coast Guard, National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of the Interior?s Minerals

Management Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency. ?It is a proven fact that oil drilling, production and transport, including pipelines, is a polluting and accident-infested business. These facts and figures don't lie."

Each week another business, Florida community or organization is coming forward to speak out or to adopt resolutions in support of preserving Florida?s coasts, he noted.

To date, more than 29 organizations have passed resolutions to protect Florida?s Gulf waters and/or to oppose lifting the ban on oil drilling. They include: Bay County Chamber of Commerce; Bay County Commission;Barrier Islands Governmental Council (Big C); Captiva Erosion Prevention District; Clearwater, City of; Cocoa Beach Surfrider Foundation; Collier County Commission; Destin Area Chamber of Commerce; Escambia County Commission; Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association; Destin City Council; Florida's Great Northwest (Military Interests); Indian Rocks, City of; Indian Shores Town Council; Lee County Commission; Lee County Tourist Council; Miami Beach, City of; Pensacola City Council; Redington Beach, Town of; Redington Shores, Town of; Safety Harbor, City of; Sarasota, City of; Sarasota, County of; St. Petersburg, City of; Tampa, City of; Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce; Tarpon Springs, City of; Treasure Island, City of; Wakulla County Commission; Walton Area Chamber of Commerce; Walton County Commission.

--30--

 

[Gidget]

We might very well do black shirts; I have been thinking about that for awhile. I have the design done already. I sent info to CNN already but if you have someone who might want to talk to me have them contact me please. I fully expect this will draw national attention. Thank you for your support. 850-865-1061

Dave

What's the best link you have to summarize this - something not too long, etc... but really shows the impact it could have. I will email it to Jane with your number. Just want to make sure I send the best link to her.

G

 

[MRBS]

Keep up the good work

Lawmakers' love affair with Big Oil

By CARL HIAASEN

chiaasen@MiamiHerald.com

The mystery group trying to repeal Florida's ban on offshore oil drilling is winning converts the old-fashioned way, deploying a battalion of lobbyists and throwing campaign money at state legislators.
Florida Energy Associates, which is basically a front for Big Oil, has already donated about $125,000 to the two major political parties. Nobody turned down a dime, even though the firm won't reveal which oil and gas companies it represents.
That's what makes our legislators so special. They happily sell out without even knowing who's buying them.
Florida Energy Associates has hired about three dozen big-name lobbyists to peddle the idea that drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is perfectly safe, and that it will bring jobs, prosperity and a $2.25 billion annual boost to the state budget.
That dollar prediction is pure fiction, exceeding by sevenfold the maximum yearly drilling revenues from Alabama and Texas combined. But wildcatters are nothing if not optimists.
If you happen to live near a coast, and the majority of Floridians do, the notion of erecting scores of gas and oil derricks in a prime hurricane pathway might seem reckless, especially after what happened to the shorelines of Louisiana and Mississippi when Katrina struck.
Florida Energy Associates wants to assure you that their members -- whoever they are -- would never do anything to foul the beaches, poison the marine life and scare off tourists.
In Tallahassee, the two biggest cheerleaders for offshore drilling are both Republicans. Mike Haridopolos of Indialantic is the future Senate president, and Dean Cannon of Winter Park is the future House speaker.
That's fabulous news for the oil companies, but there's more.
One of the lobbyists hired by Florida Energy Associates is Claudia Diaz de la Portilla, who's married to Senate Majority Leader Alex Diaz de la Portilla, a Miami Republican.
Last month, Alex was named chairman of the Senate's energy, environment and land-use committee, meaning he is positioned to influence any legislation that repeals or weakens the current ban on offshore drilling.
It's not just an inside joke. A senator who will play a key role in the outcome of the oil-exploration controversy is sleeping with a lobbyist for the oil companies.
In a place where ethics actually mattered, this would be denounced as a flagrant conflict of interest. Not in Florida.
Sen. Diaz de la Portilla says he won't recuse himself from the drilling issue because he's open-minded, and he doesn't always vote on the side of his wife's clients.
And while the income she's receiving from Florida Energy Associates presumably benefits the whole family, including her hubbie, we're being asked to believe it won't affect his stance in the drilling debate.
Maybe that's true, but the appearance sure looks bad.
Last spring, the GOP-controlled House voted largely along party lines to end the drilling ban. That bill would have empowered the governor and Cabinet to take bids from energy firms seeking to put drilling platforms as close as three miles from shore.
The measure died in the Senate, where some of the toughest opposition came from other Republicans who weren't swayed by the oil-and-gas lobby's late-session blitz.
Those lawmakers remain skeptical today, and stand as the main bulwark against opening up Florida's offshore waters to energy development. Sen. Durell Peaden of Crestview, who once worked for Texaco, told reporters: ``Once you ruin those beaches, they're ruined forever.''
In 2010, the biggest problem facing Big Oil in Tallahassee is Senate President Jeff Atwater, a Republican from North Palm Beach. He's been unmoved by recent polls -- some paid for by energy interests -- suggesting that Floridians are increasingly open to the prospect of offshore drilling.
Atwater says the subject isn't on the Senate agenda for next year's session, and he wants an independent analysis of the potential risks and benefits before moving ahead.
And while Atwater currently holds life-or-death power over most legislation, Big Oil can afford to be patient. Atwater is running for state chief financial officer, and in any event the senate presidency is slated to go to the pro-drilling Haridopolos in 2011.
When that happens, maybe the faces of Florida Energy Associates will finally peek out of the shadows. If the vote looks to be narrow, they can always pull the Diaz de la Portilla gambit.
Hire the spouses of reluctant legislators to do some one-on-one ``lobbying.''


:angry:

 

[Miss Critter]

In a place where ethics actually mattered, this would be denounced as a flagrant conflict of interest. Not in Florida.

Touche. Love Hiaasen.

 

[Jdarg]

Touche. Love Hiaasen.

Hands off my boyfriend.;-)

 

[BeachSiO2]

Don't get me wrong as I think this is a grayt idea and am personally against the drilling. However, I wonder how many people will drive their vehicles onto the beach at Grayton so that they can join hands to protest big oil.

 

[Geo]

Don't get me wrong as I think this is a grayt idea and am personally against the drilling. However, I wonder how many people will drive their vehicles onto the beach at Grayton so that they can join hands to protest big oil.

I'll bite.

I plan on driving onto the beach that day like I do most others. Is it a conflict to make your voice heard against offshore drilling but to enjoy driving a vehicle on Grayton Beach?

 

[BeachSiO2]

I'll bite.

I plan on driving onto the beach that day like I do most others. Is it a conflict to make your voice heard against offshore drilling but to enjoy driving a vehicle on Grayton Beach?

I am not trying to start a discussion about driving on the beach so please don't think that was my goal. I was just wondering what it would look like with a line of people on the beach holding hands protesting impacts from offshore drilling with a line of four wheel drive vehicles in the background on the beach. If I were on the other side supporting offshore drilling (which I am NOT), that is the picture I would take and spread as far and wide as possible.

Think about it. Depending on how it's shot, you could show a line of concerned citizens, a globally rare coastal dune lake, sugar white sands, majestic dune systems, and a big 4WD vehicle all in the same shot. The opportunities to try and smear the campaign are endless.

(I hope I didn't just give anyone an idea, but I am pretty sure Big Oil is much smarter on this stuff than I am.)