Crist: Lawmakers may address offshore drilling

State lawmakers may address the issue of offshore oil drilling this fall during a special session, Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday.

Lawmakers may return to Tallahassee in the coming months to take up the new gambling compact that Crist and the Seminole tribe signed Monday. The deal cannot take effect without the Legislature's approval.

Either the governor or the Legislature's top officers may call lawmakers back to the Capitol for a special session about a specific issue or group of issues. Crist said he has heard that lawmakers are interested in adding "energy" to the anticipated session's agenda - in particular, offshore oil drilling.

Crist said it's an issue he may support addressing at that time as well - adding later that while he is not committed to a specific timeframe, talk of an October special session sounds "prudent."

Any drilling proposal would have to come from the Legislature, he told reporters, "but I think it dovetails off some of the discussion that we heard at the end of the session ... which was, at the time, I thought, a little hasty."

The House voted in the spring for a proposal that emerged late in the legislative session to lift the state's ban on oil drilling in Florida's waters between three and 10 miles off the Gulf coast. The plan, from Speaker-designate Dean Cannon, stalled in the Senate, where leaders said they wanted more time to consider it.

Cannon, R-Winter Park, was delighted to hear of the governor's comments Tuesday and said he was encouraged by Crist's apparent interest.

Cannon said he has been talking to supporters and opponents all summer. He wants to channel revenue from drilling into renewable energy initiatives and environmental programs such as the Florida Forever land conservation program. Beach restoration and even public education could also benefit, he said.

"I could have a draft ready next week if we needed to," he said.

Crist's words had a drastically different effect on Eric Draper, lobbyist for Audubon of Florida, who fought Cannon's proposal during the last session.

"That's a sudden step forward," Draper said. "There still have not been any formal, open discussions as to what a proposal might look like ... how do you even get the debate about the safety, the leases, and the revenue worked out in such a short period of time?

"There are so many unanswered questions that putting this into a special session feels like a rush job," he said.

Janet Bowman, of the Nature Conservancy, agreed: "Why not have a robust and well-thought-out public debate up to, and including in, the regular session?"

Ryan Banfill, a public relations executive who represents a group of oil and natural gas producers, said he was "floored" by those responses.

"This issue is very important to the state; it deserves the kind of focused attention it could get in a special session - away from the politicking and horse-trading that can go on during a regular session, especially in an election year," Banfill said. "It seems like [opponents] would want that kind of open and focused discussion."

Banfill represents Florida Energy Associates, which is bankrolling much of the push for drilling in state waters. It also has contributed $20,000 to the state Democratic Party and $35,000 to the state GOP, but refused thus far to disclose the identities of most of its members.

Draper compared Crist with U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who fought aggressively this summer against a federal plan for drilling off Florida's coast.

"I think Sen. Nelson taking such a strong stand against drilling in federal waters helped our cause," he said. "What we lack is the same courage in the governor's office."

Late Tuesday, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Larry Cretul said the discussion about a special session and drilling had gotten ahead of itself.