Oil drilling no way to fuel recovery

The effort to open up Florida's waters to oil drilling illustrates how ill-equipped the legislative leadership is to rebuild the state's economy.

The same lawmakers who believe an overbuilt state with a backlog of unsold homes needs to eliminate development controls also think that allowing oil rigs to crowd close to Florida's beaches will ease its financial woes.

It is a dangerous pipedream, one that could ruin Florida's economy and coastal waters.

The drilling - which requires the use of heavy metal, toxic metals and polluting muds - would not occur far offshore in federal waters, where perhaps a case can be made for additional drilling.

This legislation applies to state-controlled waters from three to 10 miles offshore. It would be possible for rigs to operate within sight of shore.

Supporters say new technologies minimize the visual disruption and pollution threat. Perhaps. But drilling immediately offshore provides the state no margin of error when the inevitable accident occurs.

Yet Rep. Dean Cannon, an Orlando Republican scheduled to become House speaker next year, thinks this would benefit a state whose clean waters and sandy beaches underpin its appeal and sustain a $65-billion-a-year tourism industry that employs 1 million people.

Under the proposal the governor and members of the Cabinet would vote on oil companies' exploration requests. The companies would have to post a $500 million bond. It is being pushed hard by the oil industry and affiliated special interests. A House panel approved it Tuesday.

This misguided effort was abruptly launched in the final weeks of the session, revealing a stunning disregard for the need to carefully scrutinize a change with such dramatic impacts.

Even more alarming is how this scheme shows legislative leaders are looking to the past rather than trying to seize new economic opportunities.

President Barack Obama's administration clearly is going to emphasize clean, renewable energy and seek to reduce the nation's dependence on oil. Just last week the U.S Environmental Protection Agency signaled it would eventually use the Clean Air Act to limit the use of greenhouse gases.

One does not have to accept the doomsayers' warnings about climate change to recognize the nation's energy dynamics will change.

And the transition to clean domestically produced energy sources is expected to create millions of American jobs and make the nation more energy independent. Florida has the potential to generate energy and jobs from biomass, solar, wind and waves.

Yet the same House leadership that would put Florida's beaches at risk has refused to consider reasonable legislation that would help boost investment in renewables.

The measure, as fashioned by the Senate, would require electric utilities to obtain 20 percent of their power from clean energy by 2020. It is not overly burdensome. It even allows clean coal technology and nuclear to be counted toward that renewable energy target.

The legislation, besides assuring Florida a cleaner energy supply, would ignite investment in homegrown industries.

Instead of looking for ways to build an economy - and energy industry - for the future, the House simply seeks to turn the Florida coast over to Big Oil. That won't produce many jobs. It won't revive the economy. And it could forever taint Florida's coastal waters.

But it will please powerful special interests - and that appears to be what counts the most in the state House.