U.S. Senate bill seeks to open drilling off Florida

WASHINGTON — Less than a week after Sens. Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez launched a so-called “pre-emptive strike” to keep drilling far from Florida’s shores, leaders of the Senate Energy Committee fired back Tuesday with a plan of their own.

Sen. Pete Domenici, the Republican chair of the Energy committee, and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., introduced legislation aimed at opening up drilling in controversial Lease Area 181 in the Gulf of Mexico.

The plan, which would be put into effect within a year after being passed into law, would allow drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, 100 miles off the west coast of Florida. There would be no drilling, Domenici said, in the “stovepipe” section, a thin area near the Florida Panhandle.

Despite a rash of concerns from the Florida delegation, Domenici said opening up the tract to drilling would help ease gas prices and winter heating costs.

It would not ruin the state’s environment or its billion-dollar tourism industry, the Energy chair insisted Tuesday.

“This bill will not interfere with the viewscapes from the coast, the environment or the military activity in the area,” Domenici said. “Opening this area is our best opportunity to bring a lot of gas to market swiftly and make a real difference with supply and price.”

Bingaman added: “While I appreciate that there are environmental sensitivities associated with offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, I am confident that development in this area can be done in an environmentally sound manner, and that lessees will be held to the highest environmental and safety standards.”

Anticipating what they called “the assault on Florida,” the state’s senators unveiled their own deal last week that would create a permanent no-drilling zone at least 260 miles off the west coast of Florida.

As part of the plan, Martinez and Nelson said they would allow oil companies to drill in the southwest section of the 181 tract, an area they’ve been eyeing for quite some time.

Still, the Florida senators left little room for negotiation.

On Tuesday, both senators still said they would not budge on the issue.

“While I am appreciative that in his bill Senator Domenici has attempted to create a minimal buffer zone for our beaches and our military training efforts, without a greater buffer and without permanency, the march to our coast will continue, and that is unacceptable,” Martinez said.

Nelson called Domenici’s plan “a sham.”

Domenici, he said, was fooling the American public by saying the drilling is necessary because of high gas prices and soaring home heating costs.

“This is really an attempt for false reasons to attack the state of Florida,” said Dan McLaughlin, a spokesman for Nelson. “It’s not going to bring down the price of gas at the pump or bring down the cost of home heating bills anytime soon.”

McLaughlin said Nelson wasn’t buying the fact that the drilling would not ruin Florida’s environment.

“It’s not a secret that the oil industry destroys,” McLaughlin said. “It causes poor water quality, loss of wetlands and marine life.

“It’s like saying that cigarette smoke doesn’t cause cancer,” he added.

Both senators say Domenici’s legislation faces a tough battle in the coming days.

First, the legislation would have to pass the Energy Committee, where Martinez currently holds a seat.

Even if it does clear the committee level, it would need 60 votes to pass the floor.

“I can’t imagine that 60 U.S. senators would vote to attack Florida,” McLaughlin said.