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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 21, 2008

A Beach Over A State

Regarding "As Gas Prices Gush, Drilling Debate Flows" (front page, June 14):

An oil spill off the coast of Florida could hurt tourism. A nuclear accident could make most, if not all, of Florida uninhabitable for centuries. Think Chernobyl. Think of being told to evacuate and leave everything behind - your home, your land, your workplace, your belongings and just go. Better to lose a beach then to lose a state. Better to drill for oil then to depend on nuclear fission.

DONALD DUNNUCK

Valrico

Plenty Of Drilling Areas

I appreciate the Tribune's attempt to be objective in your article regarding a changing attitude to offshore drilling near Florida's coast, but the article left out a critical piece of information.

On June 12, a bill was announced in Congress to compel oil companies to actually drill on the estimated 68 million acres they already have rights to.

Your article makes it seem like we are now forced to consider drilling in our most sensitive areas as a last resort, when instead the oil companies may be creating this whole situation by sitting on their hands and not drilling in already authorized areas. What is worse, by holding the leases and not drilling, they effectively prevent any other oil company from drilling as well.

I sincerely hope we do not contemplate drilling off our coast until every alternative has been tried and I resent being rushed to make such a crucial decision based on cherry-picked "facts"! The last time that happened we got stuck in Iraq!

ANDY CROSSFIELD

Lakeland

Should've Started Sooner

When will the naive citizens of the United States figure out that if we had started drilling for own oil over 30 years ago when first threatened by an Arab oil embargo, we would not be beholden to these anti-American regimes? Instead we listened to environmentalists who persuaded Congress not to drill or build refineries.

I love the planet, too, but it does not take a genius to see that we cannot replace oil for the moment. The ethanol debacle should teach us that. In the meantime we cannot afford food or a drive to the pristine beaches the environmentalists worry about.

HELEN RICHARD

Clearwater

Nothing Is Risk-Free

Central themes in your story on offshore drilling in Florida were the potential for spills, questionable quantities worthy of extraction and the likelihood of endangering tourism.

Nothing worthwhile is risk-free, if there is little or no oil they won't drill anyway, and tourism thrives in Texas where the shorter continental shelf, contrary to ours, makes rigs visible from the beaches - which wouldn't be the case here.

DWAYNE KEITH

Valrico

Endless Excuses

Your article was interesting, but full of environmental tripe. Holly Binns states it will take seven to 10 years before offshore oil would have an impact. True, but the last presidential candidate of change and hope - from Hope, Ark. - extended President George H.W. Bush's ban on offshore drilling in 1998, stating it would take 10 years before it could be added to the supply chain. Same old tired excuse, probably to be used again in 2018.

BOB ALLEN

Apollo Beach

Defying Common Sense

Our congressional "leaders" have put regulations and restrictions in place that prevent domestic exploration which defies common sense. When gas hits $5 or $6 per gallon and the people demand more production of energy here at home, we will find out just how committed to the global warming myth our congressmen are.

Local production of oil and gas and the further development of nuclear power is a reality that must be faced if we want to maintain leadership in the world's economy and preserve our security. As the price of gas goes higher watch how the attitude about manmade global warming changes.

GREGORY W. FRICK

Tampa

Hasn't Hurt Other States

Probably 1 percent of the $65 billion in tourist money is spent on beaches that may be affected by drilling in the Gulf. The true reason for not drilling in the Gulf is not to protect the tourist industry, but to protect the condo owners who own all of the beachfront property. Very little of the shoreline is now what you would call open to the tourist. Also, the Atlantic Coast has better beaches.

People who are against drilling in the eastern Gulf should check the history of drilling to the west to find out how much drilling has hurt the tourist trade in Texas, Louisiana or Mississippi.

ROBBIE HEMPHILL

Tampa

Listening To Lobbyists

Some experts say a barrel of crude could reach $250. This is the result of the environmental lobbyists successfully controlling politicians who would rather listen to them than the daily commuter draining his disposable income at the pump.

JAMES KOBIS

Tampa

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