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A united front

In a show of bipartisan solidarity, Florida's 25-member House delegation objected to yet another attempt to get oil rigs into the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Just as the villain in a slasher movie keeps coming back to life, the oft-defeated attempt to drill off Florida's coast won't die. The latest threat arose in the House Resources Committee, where an energy bill would have allowed natural gas exploration within sight of Florida beaches. In a show of bipartisan solidarity, the state's 25-member House delegation objected, and Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., withdrew the proposed legislation.

The issue undoubtedly will be back, because Pombo and other shills for the petroleum industry want to move offshore rigs into Florida waters. The natural gas language was merely a greedy add-on to a more insidious plot to shrink the state's oil-drilling barrier to just 125 miles off the coast.

Even malleable lawmakers ready to weaken protection, such as Rep. Mike Bilirakis, R-Tarpon Springs, couldn't swallow a complete sellout. Nearly every delegation member signed a letter written by Reps. Connie Mack, R-Naples, and Jim Davis, D-Tampa, asking Pombo to reject the amendment. "Eliminating the drilling ban poses a clear danger to our environment and an economy that are inextricably linked," the letter stated.

For now there is a federal moratorium on drilling in the eastern gulf, except for about 3-million acres known as Lease Area 181. That area is more than 200 miles off Pinellas County, so a 125-mile buffer would be a setback for most of coastal Florida.

Opponents of offshore drilling expect Pombo to try again to slip the 125-mile limit into a bill. If he is successful in adding it to the House budget reconciliation bill, as some fear, it could not be filibustered and defeating it would require representatives to reject the entire bill.

Pombo and other prodrilling lawmakers are using the recent hurricanes to justify an expansion of oil exploration. The storms did damage offshore rigs and refineries, but that argues for a rejection of drilling off Florida beaches. Katrina alone caused crude oil spills nearly equal to the amount released when the Exxon Valdez ran aground, contaminating Alaskan shores. A spill of such magnitude off Florida would be an even bigger economic and environmental disaster.

There is no reason to believe the oil industry and its congressional henchmen will give up. There is only one defense to the relentless attack: a united Florida delegation.

[Last modified October 5, 2005, 01:14:17]