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Offshore drilling

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 26, 2009

Once again, Big Oil has opened its big wallet and convinced lawmakers to propose drilling every last ounce of oil from within one of our most precious resources - our oceans. There are currently two bills up for discussion in the Senate that would allow offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, an area teeming with marine wildlife and valuable fisheries.

While oil companies brag about their new, clean and safe technology, about 60,000 gallons of oil leaked out of a Shell pipeline into the Gulf of Mexico, leaving an 80-square-mile slick just last month. If such a spill occurred in the proposed leasing area, oil could be lapping at the tourist-strewn shores of Florida's West Coast.

New offshore drilling has no place in climate or energy legislation. Our oceans and beaches are too valuable to risk to save pennies at the pump.

ELENA FOLEY

St. Petersburg

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