Opposition to offshore drilling in Florida used to be a stance shared by politicians of all political stripes in the Sunshine State. In that respect, they were just following the will of the populace, who had consistently shown in public opinion surveys over the years that they were against any plans that could — with one potential oil spill — threaten the state's tourist-rich beaches. But as gasoline prices climbed over $4 a gallon in 2008, those poll numbers began shifting dramatically, as enthusiastic chants of "Drill, baby, drill!" filled the air at the Republican National Convention and Sarah Palin campaign rallies.
Last year in Tallahassee, a proposal to end the 20-year ban against drilling in state waters (the area 3-10 miles from the Gulf shoreline) passed easily in the State House of Representatives, but stalled in the Senate. The measure, which would allow the governor and cabinet to seek bidders for exploration and drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, seemed to emerge out of thin air toward the end of the session; it left its critics paranoid and its supporters energized. Proponents now say they have the momentum to get a similar bill through both houses of the legislature as the regular session begins next month.
In reaction, a resurgent opposition hopes to make its own statement this Saturday, when "Hands Across the Sand" takes place up and down the coastline. Organizers for the rally are calling on protesters to gather on beaches at 1 p.m. wearing black shirts or caps (to demonstrate what an oil spill would do to the waterways). Then, from 1:30-1:45 p.m., they're to hold hands — a line in the sand, as it were, stretching from Miami Beach to Fort De Soto to Clearwater Beach to the Panhandle.
The idea for the rally took root last fall, when a Seaside-based restaurateur, agitated by the possibility of oil derricks drilling just miles from his establishment, decided he wanted to do something more dramatic than simply contacting his state representative.
Dave Rauschkolb said he was at a local meet-and-greet with an aspiring legislative candidate when "this line came into my head, that we need to draw a line in the sand." Rauschkolb said he then got up and told the crowd, "I challenge Floridians at a future date, to draw human lines across the sand against oil drilling.'" At the time, Rauschkold says he was just thinking of coordinating actions in Northwest Florida.
But he said after former State Senator Jack Latvala heard about the proposal, the Pinellas-based Republican (who is running again this year for the District 16 seat being vacated by Charlie Justice) began spreading the word about the protest with others in the Bay area, and they began posting notices on the Web and on social media sites.
Opponents need to organize, because shifting poll numbers show that Florida legislators who support offshore drilling no longer feel like outcasts. A Mason-Dixon research poll conducted last spring (commissioned by a pro-drilling group) found that 59 percent of Floridians would support drilling off Florida's coasts and 88 percent would support it if they could be sure it would not harm the environment. A Quinnipiac University study released last month indicated that by a 55 to 38 percent margin, Floridians support drilling in federal waters off the Florida coast.
However, the same poll showed a majority still opposes drilling within five miles of the coast. And that's exactly where the drilling would begin if the current proposals are succesful. (Existing federal legislation already prohibits drilling in federal waters — the area from 10.3 miles to 225 miles offshore. The U.S. Dept. of the Interior regulates oil and gas activities in those waters.)
When asked about the Quinnipiac survey, GOP State Senator Mike Haridopolos remains resolute. The Melbourne-based legislator has been touring the state with his House co-sponsor Dean Cannon in forums and debates about the issue over the past several months. Haridopolos was asked last year by Senate President Jeff Atwater to conduct a review on the prospects of offshore drilling before the legislature revisits the proposal this spring. (A bill for the 2010 session has yet to be drafted.) But Senator Haridopolos says he's convinced that removing the ban and allowing for drilling is now the way to go, and spouts the Mason-Dixon poll numbers as proof that the public does as well.
Haridopolos gives three reasons why he supports the proposal: national security, the laws of supply and demand, and jobs (jobs jobs). He quotes the fanciful figures of economist (and drilling supporter) Hank Fishkind, who predicts that drilling, if approved, could generate 20,000 jobs and bring $2 billion into the state's coffers — money, Haridopolos says, that could help pay for many of the state's needs, like education and health care.
When asked how soon the state would see any of that money, Haridopolos says, "We've seen in other states many of these oil companies are willing to pay up front, so you'd see these royalties come in before the first drilling would come."
Critics of such a proposal no doubt breathed a sigh of relief when the three people who are running to become the next governor of Florida — Bill McCollum, Alex Sink and Paula Dockery — all expressed extreme skepticism when asked about the issue at the Associated Press legislative planning session last month. CFO Sink even questions the language being used, saying, "This is not a proposal for off-shore drilling, this is a proposal for near-beach drilling."
Anita Stewart is a member of the group Floridians Against Big Oil and is helping to coordinate this weekend's protest at Pier 60 in Clearwater Beach. "We have to call attention to this, because we don't want big oil to win," she says about the planned demonstration. And she's hoping for future actions that will keep the media's attention on the issue throughout the two-month legislative session.
Stewart is skeptical about the number of jobs drilling might bring to the state, saying, "It'll benefit big business. It won't benefit the middle class and the poor, and it won't increase tourism."
The Sierra Club's Cathy Harrelson says she's been trying to get local government officials involved in this weekend's event. She said that the Club already had a coastal task force working on Red Tide and the local fertilizer ordinance in St. Pete when she turned them on to the Hands project. "It's really blossomed because it's a statewide event, but it's not an overly organized one at that."
What's also disturbing to drilling foes is the somewhat mysterious origins of one of the leading groups promoting the idea in Tallahassee, Florida Energy Associates. At a debate on the issue back in October, Southern Strategy Group lobbyist David Rancourt defended the relative anonymity of many members of the group, saying, "We are not trying to hide anything in the long run, but we don't want to tip anything to our competitors, where we are interested in exploring, because this industry follows that."
Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch, who debated Rancourt at that event on the Florida State University campus, isn't buying the lack-of-transparency argument. "This is like a marriage proposal," Welch says. "We're going to put a lot of risk on the line for Floridians, and we don't even know who we're marrying….that's a troubling way to begin a relationship. They assured me they're Americans. My point is — are they Floridians?"
Welch is dead set against the proposal, and that sentiment is deeply shared by a number of local municipalities who have passed resolutions opposing the move to drill in offshore waters (most recently Dunedin, but also Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Safety Harbor, Tampa, Treasure Island and the town of Indian Shores).
When asked about the fact that, other than Texas oilman M. Lance Phillips and Daytona Beach attorney Doug Daniels, no officials involved with Florida Energy Associates have been publicly named, Senator Haridopolos switches the subject. "The people who are pushing me on this aren't lobbyists, they're people in my own district."
Hands Across the Sand founder Dave Rauschkolb hopes the simplicity of the event will bring out lots of people, "I mean, how hard is it to get people to go on the beach, and then just join hands?"
President Obama earned some points with the GOP during his State of the Union address when he mentioned offshore drilling (along with nuclear power) as part of a comprehensive bi-partisan energy plan through Congress. (He also said the U.S. should continue investing in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies.)
And last week North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan said he contemplates federal legislation that would include offshore drilling as close as 45 miles to the eastern Gulf, while mandating that as much as 20 percent of the country's energy derive from renewable sources.
GOP State Senator Mike Haridopolos sounds like a Washington Democrat when he says that simply saying "no " to offshore drilling is an insufficient response to Florida and the nation's energy needs. "There's a lot of ideas that I don't like, but I listen to all sides," says the man who will succeed Jeff Atwater as Senate President later this year. "I think we need to have this debate, because since 1990 we've always been against this as a state, but this might be a time to revisit that. For us to simply say 'no' is not acceptable."
But for potentially thousands of Floridians who will line the beaches along the coasts this weekend, that word will be quite sufficient, thanks.
This article appears in Feb 10-16, 2010.