Once again the foes of Florida’s future have united to pillage our natural resources. You can hear the lip smacking and feel the glad-handing from here. HB 1219 – the bill to allow oil drilling within sight of Florida’s Gulf Coast (that’s our coast), was passed in the House today by a vote of 70 to 43. This is a bad bill for Florida, for the future of our beaches and the future of real energy policy change. This bill buys a revenue band-aid, while trading the long-term health of our economy and our environment. And let’s not forget that pesky climate change problem. But I guess the creek won’t rise while these folks are in office.
However, as in most things, hope springs eternal. The Governor has been making noises that he may not support this bill and we need to encourage that veto now. Likewise, the senate can and must be contacted. Let our local elected officials know that we want new energy policy or we choose new policymakers. The stakes have never been higher. Do whatever it takes to make them make them speak up for us now. There’s info below the phone list with everything you ever wanted to know and everything they need to know about offshore drilling. Let’s jam those phone lines! (See phone numbers below.)
This article appears in Apr 22-28, 2009.