House approves offshore drilling

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted Thursday to open the Florida coastlines to oil and gas drilling, potentially ending a 25-year ban against the wishes of some angry state lawmakers.

The legislation, approved on a 232-147 vote, would allow drilling beyond 50 miles off the Florida coast and would also give the state Legislature the opportunity to bring drilling even closer to the shores if they choose to do so. The Legislature could also ban drilling within 100 miles but the state’s lawmakers would have to vote on the moratorium every five years. States that choose to drill would share in what some say could be billions of dollars in federal revenue.

The legislation approved Thursday would also ban drilling in a military mission zone that stretches 235 miles off the coast of Tampa, a move Florida lawmakers favored.

“There are things about this bill that give Florida the protection she does not enjoy today,” said Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, who helped craft the legislation with House Resources Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif.

“This is not a perfect bill,” Putnam added, but it is a step in the right direction for Florida. “If we do nothing, bad things do happen because the moratorium begins to expire in 2007.”

A last-ditch amendment proposed by Florida lawmakers to keep drilling 125 miles off the coast was easily defeated on a 353-65 vote, an indication of the recent pressure over rising gas prices and energy costs, some lawmakers said.

Last year, members of the delegation had the opportunity to pass a similar bill with a buffer of 125 miles but they turned it down because some felt it was too soon to compromise on the issue. At the time, the delegation had more leverage to compromise because the legislation was attached to a must-pass budget reconciliation bill.

Pombo was desperate for votes.

“We could have passed this bill last year when we had an opportunity,” said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, the Miami Republican who represents part of Collier County. “Unfortunately, no one believed this would happen. And look at us now. We lost leverage.

“I was standing on the floor of the House this afternoon thinking, ‘I told you so,’” Diaz-Balart continued. “I was saying the same thing last year. I said it until I was blue in the face. No one bought it.”

On Thursday, however, Florida lawmakers did.

“We lost big,” said Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fort Pierce. “But it’s been a hard-fought battle. The politics of petroleum and oil are playing out here. All it seems we’re looking to do is look for oil wells.”

Foley and other lawmakers said they hoped the Senate would craft another bill that provides the state with permanent protection and a decent-sized buffer zone.

Rep. Connie Mack IV, R-Fort Myers, voted against the legislation, but in favor of the amendment.

Following the House vote, Florida Sens. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, and Mel Martinez, a Republican, said while they supported the ban on the military mission line, they would filibuster the House legislation because it lacks an adequate buffer for the state.

“Drilling will destroy the unique environments that are the backbone of the tourism-driven economies of our nation’s first- and fourth-largest states,” said Nelson.

Even though Diaz-Balart understands what the senators are trying to do, he said he does not support such a filibuster. The Southwest Florida lawmaker said he fears that doing nothing will hurt Florida in the long run.

“Keep in mind, if we do nothing, we get zero protection because the moratorium goes away and meanwhile we continue to lose leverage,” he said. “A year from now we wouldn’t even be able to get 65 votes for a buffer of 100 miles. I don’t even think we’d get 65 votes for 20 miles.”