http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100316/ARTICLE/3161066/2416/NEWS?Title=Commission-no-strong-case-for-drilling-off-Florida
Sarasota Herald Tribune
No Strong Case For Drilling
Commission: No strong case for drilling off Florida
By Jeremy Wallace
H-T Political Writer
Published: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 12:25 a.m.
Opening Florida’s Gulf Coast to oil drilling would have almost no impact on prices at the pump or on the state’s ongoing budget problems, a nonpartisan commission told a key committee of the Legislature on Monday.
While the House has heard similar arguments from environmental groups and others opposed to drilling, the report was significant because it came from the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, created by the Legislature five years ago to study Florida’s long-term future on issues like water resources, growth management and energy.
“Lifting the moratoriums in both federal and state waters would have no discernible impact on petroleum prices at the retail level,” said a draft report presented to the House Select Policy Council on Strategic & Economic Planning.
The minimal impact at the pump is largely due to how little oil is thought to exist within the 3 to 10 miles off Florida’s coastline that the Legislature has considered opening to drilling.
The Century Commission report shows that the best estimates for total oil reserves within 10 miles of the shore are 110 million barrels. Tapping every barrel of that oil would last the nation less than one week. The United States consumes about 20 million barrels a day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The report is sure to become a rallying cry for those who say the risk to Florida’s environment and tourist industry far outweighs the energy potential.
The Century Commission report also shows that oil drilling will not produce a windfall for the cash-strapped state government.
Other Gulf Coast states that already allow oil drilling and natural gas discoveries receive less than $200 million a year in revenue. In Texas, the state government receives $52 million a year on average and Louisiana brought in $98 million in 2009.
Florida’s annual budget is about $69 billion.
“It doesn’t make much of a case for going forward,” State Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, D-Sarasota, said of the report.
However, the report also pokes holes in the assumption that drilling would put Florida at great risk of an oil spill.
Frank Alcock, a New College of Florida associate professor who helped write the Century Commission’s report, said oil spills are a “low probability” because of the advancement in oil drilling technology.
He said most of the tar balls that wash up on Texas beaches — often cited by environmental groups as evidence of the threat of spills — are from natural seepage from the ocean floor and not from drilling or transporting of oil.
The Century Commission is playing a critical role in guiding the Legislature on offshore oil drilling.
Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-Palm Beach County, called on the 15-member Century Commission to wade through the rhetoric from both sides of the oil drilling debate and present lawmakers with unbiased research to determine whether the state should pursue expanded oil drilling.
Last year, the House passed legislation that would have allowed the governor and Cabinet to approve oil drilling leases within 10 miles of shore. The bill died, though, when the Florida Senate refused to pick up the issue.
Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, who proposed the House bill last year, is expected to propose a similar bill this year.
Atwater told the News Service of Florida that the Century Commission’s findings help shape the debate on whether to allow drilling. He said the Legislature must now answer the question of whether there is enough to be gained by taking on the risks of drilling.
The state oil drilling debate comes as Congress continues to debate a U.S. Senate proposal that would allow oil drilling in international waters starting at 45 miles from Florida coastline.
Currently, the federal government bans drilling within 232 miles of Tampa Bay. The state also has a ban on drilling within state waters.
special thanks to Richard Charter