According to an article published earlier this week in The New York Times, something people would have thought impossible a few years ago, when the price of gasoline as well above $4 a gallon, has been happening of late. U.S. oil refineries have been closing. There hasn't been a refinery built in this country since 1979, but a prolonged drop in the demand for gasoline by U.S. motorists over the last few years has produced excess refining capacity that is being idled. The lengthy recession is credited with much of the slump in demand, but more fuel-efficient vehicles could be playing a role as well. ...more

December 30, 2009

Democrat Scott Maddox said Monday he wants to make the debate over offshore oil drilling a major issue in his 2010 race for the office of state agriculture commissioner. ...more

November 24, 2009

Mary and Lee Wilkerson have won preservation awards and accolades from travel Web sites for their painstaking restorations of older beach homes in the Tampa Bay area. ...more

October 22, 2009

Sandra Kellmeier of Tarpon Springs challenges assertions in a political ad placed in The Suncoast News by the Tarpon Springs Republican Club. ...more

October 11, 2008

Senate Democrats promised a series of votes next week on offshore oil drilling as Republicans agreed Monday to let the Senate proceed on a defense bill that had been bottled up because of partisan disputes over the country's energy priorities. ...more

September 9, 2008

Lorne H. Spence of Hudson says people who favor oil drilling off the Florida coast should visit places where drilling is already taking place. ...more

August 27, 2008

U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis and Adam Putnam, who represent parts of Brandon, Valrico, Riverview, Lithia, Plant City and Seffner, hoped to vote to rescind the congressional ban on offshore oil drilling. The area Republicans will have to wait, however, until the House returns from its summer recess. ...more

August 20, 2008

I live on Dauphin Island, three miles into the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Alabama. As I read the political positioning by the president and presidential candidates on whether to rescind restrictions on offshore oil drilling as a solution to soaring gas prices, I can only shake my head while gaping at the brightly lit crown of oil and natural gas rigs that surround my community. ...more

August 3, 2008

Barack Obama has shifted his position on offshore oil drilling, saying he favors a proposal by a bipartisan "Gang of 10" U.S. senators. ...more

August 2, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Friday he would be willing to support limited additional offshore oil drilling if that's what it takes to enact a comprehensive policy to foster fuel-efficient autos and develop alternate energy sources. ...more

August 1, 2008