Issues, Florida Chapter

Offshore Drilling

The eastern Gulf of Mexico is in jeopardy - its waters, sea grasses, wetlands, bays, estuaries and beaches. These diverse and fragile ecosystems support cycles of life both offshore and inshore and are critical for the survival of threatened and endangered species, migratory and resident shore birds and a vast array of fish, crustaceans and marine mammals.

In the past year, the Gulf of Mexico has experienced one of the longest-lasting and most severe Red Tide outbreaks in recorded history, resulting in a 2,100 square mile "Dead Zone" stretching from Pasco County south to Sarasota. With the health of our waters already weakened by the effects of Red Tide, the Gulf couldn’t withstand the additional environmental stresses that would be placed upon it by Offshore Drilling.

Another resource our committee intends to protect is Florida’s tourist-based economy, which could also be negatively impacted by an offshore drilling spill. Tourists, "snowbirds" and new residents flock to our state each year because of our pristine beaches and clear turquoise waters. Florida would not be able to financially survive the guaranteed degradation of its most prized natural assets with the onset of Offshore Drilling.

Threats

Despite the overwhelming opposition of most Florida residents and lawmakers, there were several nearly successful attempts to open up the Eastern Gulf of Mexico to offshore drilling in 2005. In early November, provisions for Offshore Drilling, along with proposals for oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, were stripped at the last minute from a House Budget Reconciliation Package after Sierra Club and other environmental groups and activists exerted intense public pressure upon key House leaders.

Then, later that same month, Interior Secretary Gale Norton vowed to pursue all drilling options, including areas in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and prime Alaskan fisheries. Especially eager to open up the controversial Lease Sale Area 181 (which lies 200 miles west of Tampa), Norton announced, "Our ability to make decisions about this area does not depend on Congress," and she was a woman of her word.

In early January 2006, the Minerals Management Service, a division of the Interior Department, redrew the lines of state authority by giving Louisiana jurisdiction over millions of acres of waters Florida has historically controlled in the eastern Gulf, including an area south of the Panhandle not currently protected from drilling.

This area known as Lease Sale 181 could be included in the 5-year Drilling Plan for 20007-2012 due to be released by the MMS in early February 2006. While Florida has been a longtime foe to drilling in this region, Louisiana, being oil-industry friendly, will likely welcome the idea.

This could, in turn, catapult momentum to open up other areas to Offshore Drilling even closer to Florida’s coasts. Recognizing America’s growing thirst for fossil fuels, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states that up to 400 new wells could soon be drilled in the Gulf of Mexico.

If that should happen, we should know that:

• Offshore drilling activities lead to the destruction of coastal wetlands. In Louisiana, where oil and gas development has been conducted for 50 years, close to 62 square miles of wetlands are lost each year.
• The pollution from offshore rigs causes a wide range of health and reproductive problems for fish and other marine life.
• Oil and gas operations dump more than 1 billion pounds of mercury-contaminated drilling fluids into the Gulf each year. Mercury levels in the sand around some Gulf rigs are three times higher than levels found at EPA Superfund sites where fishing is prohibited. Mercury levels in marine creatures living around these rigs are at least 25 times higher than in fish found elsewhere in the Gulf. Why then is the oil industry promoting rigs as "fish-rich oasis in the vast desert of the Gulf"? Tests of 70 coastal residents who ate Gulf-caught fish at least once a week show mercury levels of 5-10 times the EPA’s safe level for mercury in the human body. Since Gulf-caught fish are shipped all over the country, this is a health hazard of national proportions.
• "Routine" offshore drilling operations dump thousands of pounds of drilling muds into the ocean that contain toxic heavy metals such as lead, chromium and mercury.
• A single production platform, which can drill 50-100 wells, discharges over 90,000 metric tons of drilling fluid and metal cuttings into the ocean.
• A single exploratory well dumps approximately 25,000 pounds of toxic metals into the ocean.
• A single offshore rig emits the same air pollution as 7,000 cars driving 50 miles per day.
• The continued use of fossil fuels poses a particular threat to the residents of Florida. Fossil fuels increase global warming which leads in turn to the melting of the polar icecaps. In Florida, this will result in serious sea-level rise, while the higher temperatures will lead to more tropical diseases and heat-related deaths.

Goals

CAMPAIGN GOAL: Stop administrative and agency attempts to promote offshore oil and gas drilling off Florida’s Gulf and Atlantic coast by engaging in campaign work to protect the coastal ecosystems, communities, and economy of Florida.

• Develop a Florida "Save Our Shores" Coalition of organizations like Florida PIRG, Gulf Coast Environmental Defenses, Clean Water Network, and League of Conservation Voters to coordinate on campaign and media work.
• Build an effective coalition of Florida coastal businesses, elected officials, chambers of commerce, local governments, Florida Board of Realtors, and coastal community leaders to oppose offshore drilling.
• Engage divers, fisherman, paddlers, surfers, sailors, and boaters in campaign work to oppose offshore drilling
• Conduct aggressive and statewide media outreach (paid and earned) to generate opposition to offshore drilling
• Conduct aggressive community outreach to engage citizens in efforts to oppose offshore drilling. Use a variety of creative tactics—including slideshows, presentations, informational brochures, newsletters, videos, web sites, outings to threatened areas, and public events—to educate and activate the public.
• Conduct aggressive community outreach to engage Sierra Club members and volunteers in efforts to oppose offshore drilling. Use a variety of creative tactics—including slideshows, presentations, informational brochures, newsletters, videos, web sites, outings to threatened areas, and public events—to educate and activate Sierra Club members and volunteers.
• Work with the Florida Chapter Chair, Bob Sullivan, Florida Chapter Conservation Chair, Betsy Roberts, Offshore Drilling staff member, Joe Murphy, and Florida Chapter Coastal Committee to develop and implement efforts to oppose offshore drilling
• Work with the Florida Coastal Protection Campaign Staff Team on offshore drilling and broader overall campaign goals.

Legislative

Since there is no direct federal or state legislative component on this issue (the decision making powers are mostly held within federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Commerce), our efforts are best spent targeting the Governor, the President and our state and national leaders.

With 2006 being a key election year, we should take advantage of the widespread public opposition to Offshore Drilling by lobbying the candidates running for office to do the right things for Florida's environment and economy.

Government Entities and Allies

In terms of allies, most local and elected officials in Florida claim to oppose Offshore Drilling. Some notable exceptions include Rep. Clifford Stearns of Ocala, Rep. Jeff Miller of Pensacola, and Rep. Michael Bilirakis of Palm Harbor. Even Governor Bush, formerly steadfast in his opposition to any Offshore Drilling in Florida waters, has come out in favor of drilling 100 miles off the coast.

On the national level, our biggest foes holding elected office are Republican Senators Ted Stevens, (Alaska), Pete Domenici (New Mexico) and Mary Landrieu (Louisiana). We also cannot forget Gayle Norton, Secretary of the Interior, who is the oil industry's most powerful cheerleader. Other opponents include the U.S. Petroleum Council, the James Madison Institute, Chevron and other petroleum companies, the Bush administration, SEASAFE, etc.

See "Goals" above for some of our allies.

Further Actions

Our campaign goals will also include:

• Educating the public about renewable/alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, wave, geothermal and bio-diesel powers.
• Putting pressure on American car manufacturers to increase fuel economy standards to 40 mpg for cars and light trucks. By raising the mpg alone, 10 times the estimated oil and gas reserves off Florida would be saved by the year 2020.
• Encouraging American car manufacturers to implement more gas-saving technologies such as continuously variable transmissions, variable-valve-control engines and integrated starter generators.
• Spreading the word about hybrid vehicles for personal and "fleet" use and working to legislate greater tax incentives for their purchase.
• Promoting the fast-track development of hydrogen fuel cells.
• Advocating for "green" building methods and materials. By improving home insulation practices alone across the U.S., more than 5 times the estimated gas and oil reserves off Florida would be saved by 2020.

Recent Achievements

Through a concentrated grassroots effort across the state using phone-chains, letters to the editor, newspaper, radio and television advertisements and PSA's, press conferences and demonstrations, we were successfully able to get the Offshore Drilling proposals stripped from the controversial House Budget Reconciliation Bill in early November, 2005. After winning this significant victory, we have shown that grassroots advocacy truly works, but many significant battles still lie ahead. We must get ready now for the biggest fights yet to come in 2006!