Offshore drilling again!

[John R]

mailed to me this am, they have gotten many sigs, but let's top the chart.

Last week, despite hundreds of calls and thousands of petition signatures, the U.S. Senate passed legislation to allow oil and gas drilling in over eight million acres in the Gulf of Mexico.

Congress now must resolve differences between the House-passed and Senate-passed off-shore drilling bills before final passage. With Congress in recess until September, we have one month to mobilize enough grassroots support to block this attack on our beaches.

So far over 5,400 people have signed the Save Our Shores petition. To hit our goal of 10,000 petition-signers by the end of August, we need you to sign the petition and then ask your friends to sign as well.

Here's the petition text:
"Our beaches are beautiful places visited by millions of tourists each year. Oil and gas drilling would bring oil spills, air pollution, and toxic waste. Please protect our beaches by opposing any legislation that allows new drilling off our coasts. We can get far more energy through efficiency and clean, renewable energy sources than we will ever get from drilling."

Click here to sign the petition:

http://floridapirg.org/FL.asp?id=1688&id4=ES


BACKGROUND:

Our beaches and marine waters are destinations for thousands of vacationing families each year, sanctuary for fish and wildlife and a critical part of Florida's natural heritage. They are the economic lifeblood for thousands of communities, providing billions of dollars of economic activity and millions of jobs.

Oil and gas drilling would ruin our coasts and beaches. From 1990-1999, 1.8 million gallons of oil were spilled from offshore drilling platforms and pipelines in U.S. waters--an average of almost 500 gallons a day.

Additionally, each offshore operation produces 214,000 pounds of air pollutants each year, and tens of thousands of pounds of mercury have been dumped around Gulf oil rigs.

There are cheaper, cleaner, faster, and longer-term energy solutions like efficiency and renewables that will start saving consumers and businesses money today and protect our coastal waters, beaches, and economy.

Adopting both energy efficiency and renewable energy programs would decrease natural gas prices by $2.05 per million cubic feet, or 37%, in the first year.

Meanwhile, offshore oil and gas would typically not be available for at least seven years. But we can immediately start saving money and energy by increasing the efficiency of our cars, appliances and buildings, and growing the amount of energy we generate from renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.

Unfortunately, On Thursday, June 29, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 232-187 to repeal the 25-year ban on new off-shore drilling and bring new drilling and spilling to our coasts.

Congress now must resolve differences between the House-passed and Senate-passed off-shore drilling bills before final passage. Please sign the Save Our Shores petition calling on Florida's senators to protect our coasts from off-shore drilling.

Petition text:

"Our beaches are beautiful places visited by millions of tourists each year. Oil and gas drilling would bring oil spills, air pollution, and toxic waste. Please protect our beaches by opposing any legislation that allows new drilling off our coasts. We can get far more energy through efficiency and clean, renewable energy sources than we will ever get from drilling."

Click here to sign the petition:

http://floridapirg.org/FL.asp?id=1688&id4=ES

Sincerely,

Mark Ferrulo
Florida PIRG Director
MarkF@floridapirg.org
http://www.FloridaPIRG.org

P.S. Thanks again for your support. Please feel free to share this e-mail with your family and friends.

 

[BeachSteelers]

If they drill in Fla. waters don't we get a $$$$ like the Alaskans for the pipe line? Drill where millions live and Vaca or drill where no one lives and Carabou roam? If them darn aliens would just give up their technology we could have clean beaches, Alaskan National Parks and then let the Middle East just rot in HELL :clap_1: Nuh Said!!!
Thankfully Football is back!

 

[John R]

Dear Mr. Rosenberg:

Thank you for this opportunity to address offshore drilling and bill H.R. 4761 with you. Your unique views, as a member of the North Florida family, are important to me. I appreciate the views you have communicated.

Since I was elected to Congress, I have worked with our Senators and other members of the Florida delegation to head off the threat of oil drilling. I have supported legislation which would address the issue of drilling off Florida's coast by prohibiting any lease sales, exploration, or oil drilling for at least seven years. In addition, I have written my own letters, and signed other letters from the entire 23-member Florida House delegation, to both the Clinton and Bush Administrations, urging them to not allow drilling off of Florida's coast.

However, Congress has become increasingly anxious to drill of the Florida coast. Earlier this year, supporters of drilling within three miles of the coast of Florida came within ten votes of eliminating the annual moratorium on drilling. Last year, we won that vote by over forty votes but continued high gas prices were clearly shifting support away from the annual moratorium. That is why I believed it was time to examine legislation which would give the state the maximum protection possible.

H.R. 4761 would give the State of Florida control over drilling within 100 miles of the coast, except for the area east of the "Military Mission Line" (MML) in the Gulf of Mexico. The military mission line defines the western boundary of the Joint Gulf Test Range and runs north and south 235 miles off the coast of Tampa, Florida. The bill would prohibit offshore drilling east of the MML, giving the State of Florida the ability to prohibit drilling anywhere in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico west of the MML out to 100 miles. There is also a provision in the bill prohibiting drilling east of the MML that would give the state permanent protection from drilling that it does not currently enjoy. While I certainly believe that the current moratorium does provide protection for a greater area, support for the moratorium, which must be enacted annually, was clearly waning in the face of high gas prices. That is why I believe the permanent protection provided by H.R. 4761 is far better than oil and gas wells three miles off the Gulf Coast.



While we do not agree on this legislation, we can all agree that we must do more to protect our environment and coasts. I will continue to do all I can to protect our coasts and seek more legislation to help further this goal. Please continue to write me with your other thoughts on all subjects. I encourage you to visit my website and sign up for my e-newsletter at www.house.gov/boyd.

Sincerely,

Allen Boyd
Member of Congress

 

[Beachlover2]

At least he sent out different letters.





Dear

Thank you for this opportunity to address H.R. 5427, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 2007 with you. Your unique views, as a member of the North Florida family, are important to me. I appreciate the views you have communicated.

In 2003, 2004, and 2005, I was able to secure funding for the Corps of Engineers to conduct the studies necessary to have the Beaches of Walton County included in the Federal Beach Nourishment program. In all, I successfully secured one million dollars for this study over the three year period. Unfortunately, the Corps of Engineers faced significant budget shortfalls this year and I was unable to secure the $500,000 necessary to continue the project this year.

H.R. 5427 already passed the House by a vote of 404-20. While I voted in favor of this legislation it is my hope that funding for the Beaches of Walton County will be included in the bill when it is conferenced later this year. I encourage you to write Senators Nelson and Martinez with your thoughts on this important issue as well.

Thank you again for bringing your views to my attention and adding your voice to the ongoing debate. Please continue to write to me, and I encourage you to sign up for my e-newsletter by visiting my website at www.house.gov/boyd.

Sincerely,

Allen Boyd
Member of Congress