Offshore drilling again!

[TooFarTampa]

There is nobody I trust more to give me an agenda-free view of what's really happening in Florida than this guy. Here's Howard Troxler on gulf drilling. It just isn't pretty. Few people outside the state seem to care about protecting us anymore.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/29/Columns/Gulf_drilling_choice_.shtml

 

[BeachSteelers]

Saw a sign in my room on the Oregon Coast. Might need some for Florida now.
Caution Tar(oil) on the beach might ruin carpets!

 

[DD]

OK, I sent an e-mail.

Besides the potential ecosystem damage, we might need Beach Runner's carpet cleaner (sorry BR, forgot the name) to get those tracked in "tar balls" out of the carpet. I've heard areas along the TX Gulf coast have to deal with that as a problem.

.

is right, Rita. Can you say "Galveston". In a former life, when my children were young, we vacationed in Galveston every year. I cannot tell you how many times, we had tar all over everything we owned and how we had to clean our feet (and everything else) with baby oil or some other tar remover, before we could even go in the house. I can imagine that the owners of those homes spent many a dollar re-upholstering their furniture and replacing carpet quite frequently because renters did not take care to remove the tar/and or baby oil! The first time I came to Florida, I could not even believe how wonderful and clean the beaches were! The saddest thing about Galveston back then to me was that the tar was just a way of life there.

 

[TooFarTampa]

is right, Rita. Can you say "Galveston". In a former life, when my children were young, we vacationed in Galveston every year. I cannot tell you how many times, we had tar all over everything we owned and how we had to clean our feet (and everything else) with baby oil or some other tar remover, before we could even go in the house. I can imagine that the owners of those homes spent many a dollar re-upholstering their furniture and replacing carpet quite frequently because renters did not take care to remove the tar/and or baby oil! The first time I came to Florida, I could not even believe how wonderful and clean the beaches were! The saddest thing about Galveston back then to me was that the tar was just a way of life there.

I did not know about the tar. So I went looking. Here is an interesting article:

Tar balls

One thing it talks about is how the Gulf currents conspire to wash the tar onto the Texas coast. Makes me wonder if spills anywhere near the Panhandle might drift westward. Perhaps bsmart, one of our resident weather enthusiasts, could weigh in on that.

 

[DD]

I did not know about the tar. So I went looking. Here is an interesting article:

Tar balls

One thing it talks about is how the Gulf currents conspire to wash the tar onto the Texas coast. Makes me wonder if spills anywhere near the Panhandle might drift westward. Perhaps bsmart, one of our resident weather enthusiasts, could weigh in on that.

Good article, TFT. And, yep, that about sums it up. I'll send my letter too as a concerned "tourist".

 

[buenos noches]

This is all about the 'big picture' and believing those who make promises they more than likely will not keep. Especially in a shakey economy. I did write and express this concern -- and why not take the stance that first Big Oil stop wasting their money on their lawyers and start using it to create the right technology that will be benefical to everyone - themselves, homeowners, tourism, and the environment. It's like when communities allow builders to surge in without providing for the traffic, community enhancement, or low-income housing for servicing the new growth. ~ Buenos Noches

 

[Beachlover2]

I just sent a comment off - please everyone do this. If you own property there - fill out the form using your address down there. We are taxpayers also - even if we can't vote in Florida.

 

[Uncle Timmy]

tim-MAY, I encourage to copy and paste your post above, into an email to the politicians.

Done.

 

[Bob]

I'm as as the next person about gulf drilling -- the fact that we have spent so many years guzzling and wasting opportunities to find alternatives to oil is outrageous -- but I don't know that Sen. Nelson has a choice. If he doesn't back this, drilling is going to be even closer. Frankly, I'm surprised he was able to persuade people to go as far as 125 miles -- I thought if we got 100 miles, we would be lucky. The climate in the House especially is not at all sympathetic toward giving Florida any more special protection. Mel Martinez was much more willing to give up the boundaries than Nelson has been.

Mel Martinez has no soul. I think he may have had a bad experience at the beach as a child.

 

[TooFarTampa]

Mel Martinez has no soul. I think he may have had a bad experience at the beach as a child.

I still can't believe he beat Betty Castor, one of the classiest leaders I have ever met -- smart and a great listener to boot. Makes me sick, still. I blame it on "The Architect."