TALLAHASSEE ? The House sponsor of legislation to permit offshore drilling in state waters says he won?t seek passage this year.
Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, said Friday that he would try again next year when he is in line to be House speaker. Cannon announced his intentions as a committee he chairs began reviewing a proposed bill that would allow drilling rigs as close as three miles from shore on a temporary basis.
Permanent rigs or platforms would have to stay at least six miles away.
Cannon said he?s a realist and has seen no appetite in the Senate this year to lift a ban on drilling in state waters that extend about 10 miles into the Gulf of Mexico and about three into the Atlantic Ocean.

But let's not get complacent.Thanks to all who helped create an uncomfortable climate for any politician to vote for Big Oil in Florida this year. Our last line of defense is a promised veto of any near shore drilling bill from Alex Sink if she is elected Governor this year.
What a great week!! Off shore oil drilling and SB6!!
They’ll have 12 months, for instance, to convince Floridians the state will make staggering sums of money from drilling. The numbers we’ve seen are not impressive. An economist working for Florida Energy Associates — a backer of offshore drilling — predicted cheerily the state could reap $2.3 billion a year in direct revenue. But Texas, one of America’s busiest oil producers, saw only about $321 million in oil and gas royalty revenues in 2008.