What is the current status of oil drilling off the coast of Florida?
Natural resources located on the outer continental shelf are managed by the Federal Government and oil exploration in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico is highly restricted. Since the adoption of Florida Statute 253.61(1)(d) in 1990, oil and natural gas drilling is prohibited in the territorial waters of Florida. Yet, April 2009 saw the Florida House passage of House Bill 1219, which would allow oil drilling off our western coast. Florida’s jurisdiction extends 10.5 miles from the shoreline in the Gulf, as opposed to 3 miles anywhere else.
How will oil drilling affect Floridians?
In 2008, the Federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) concluded that access to regions in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico that are currently off limits would not yield a significant impact on domestic oil and natural gas production or prices before the year 2027. The EIA estimates 5 years for infrastructure buildup, such as the implementation of oil rigs, pipeline and refinery capacity, and adds another 13 years for these oil fields to produce an amount sufficient to impact domestic retail prices. Since oil prices are subject to international commodities market fluctuation and OPEC, the overall impact on the price of a barrel of crude oil is expected to be insignificant – pennies on the gallon! As of now, the United States daily oil consumption hovers around 20 million barrels a day and is rising. There is simply not enough oil or drilling infrastructure to meet this unsustainable level of demand.
What are the risks involved with oil drilling?
Florida is the world’s #1 tourist destination, recording a record 76.8 million visitors in 2004. According to Florida Atlantic University’s study on our beach economies, the west coast of Florida produces around 256 thousand jobs directly related to beach tourism. Despite the drilling industry claims, oil platforms and pipelines are easily and often damaged or destroyed from hurricanes. The United States Mineral Management Service, which monitors and regulates all natural resources owned by the Federal Government, released a report on total damage to the oil infrastructure post Hurricane Katrina and Rita. The report found that 457 pipelines had been damaged, with 101 of those being of the larger size of 10 inches in diameter or more. During those two hurricane’s, 113 oil platforms were also destroyed. Six spills greater than 1,000 barrels were reported from that time, the largest being 3,625 barrels! Thankfully, no shorelines were damaged from these spills, but the platforms in question are hundreds of miles from any land. The outcome would most certainly be more tragic if the damaged and leaking platforms were as close as 3 miles from shore and pipelines ran as close as a mile.
Hasn’t new technology made oil drilling safe and clean?
No. As with all aspects of human endeavor, drilling is not without accidents and breakdowns. For example, an ultra-modern oil rig has been leaking 400 barrels of oil a day for the last eight weeks in the Timor Sea. The spill has grown so large that it is easily viewable from outer space. Two attempts have been made to plug the leak, and both have failed. The rig was built in 2007 using state of the art technology. Additionally, even without a spill, drilling routinely releases mercury, arsenic and other heavy metals into the ocean. These heavy metals can accumulate in fish and shellfish, damaging the Gulf fishing industry and risking the health of our neighbors. Drilling is never clean and never 100% safe. One spill will cripple the Florida way of life.
How much oil is off our coast?
The Mineral Management Service estimates that there are 3.88 billion barrels in the entire Eastern Gulf of Mexico. Florida’s state waters are only a tiny fraction of the Eastern Gulf, but oil lobbyists would have you believe there are 12 billion more barrels in our state waters than in the entire Eastern Gulf of Mexico. The truth is, Big Oil has no idea how much oil rests in the scant 7 miles of jurisdiction off our shores, but they are willing to risk our way of life to find out.