Atwater on drilling: Debate, baby, debate!

by George Bennett | June 8th, 2009

Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, blocked consideration late in this year’s legislative session of a House measure to allow drilling from 3 miles to 10.5 miles off Florida’s coast. But in response to an audience question at today’s Forum Club of the Palm Beaches lunch, Atwater said the issue won’t go away and legislators will have to engage in a “big conversation” about it.

A group called FloridaOil.org wants to put a drilling question on the 2010 ballot. And Atwater said that regardless of what Florida does, other nations might act.

“Someone is going to tap our offshore oil. It’s either going to be the Chinese or someone else,” Atwater told the Forum Club.

“We need to have a much deeper, more thorough conversation on how far out and how thoughtful, careful and safe can we begin the research as to what’s there and when and if we should go after it,” Atwater said.

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Tags: offshore drilling

This entry was posted on Monday, June 8th, 2009 at 7:54 pm and is filed under Jeff Atwater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “Atwater on drilling: Debate, baby, debate!”

Melissa Nash Andrews Says:
June 8th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Safe and responsible drilling can take place. There has not been a major man-made disaster since Valdez… and the issue was shipping. Pipelines minimize this risk.

Environment and economy can compliment one another. We can lessen our dependency on foreign oil… how about a few new refinerary’s while we’re at it?

Great Debate benefits everyone… have at it
The James Madison Institute Says:
June 9th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Florida needs energy policies that address rising global demand, a struggling economy, and the long-term need for a more diverse array of energy sources. Continuing to develop domestic energy sources in the short-term, including offshore drilling, provides the necessary bridge to a future fueled by a wide range of alternative sources.

Thanks to advances in technology, domestic sources can be tapped safely, without damaging the environment. Florida must do all it can do–cleanly and safely–to meet the long-term growth in demand for energy.