www.oceana.org

Thanks to everyone who signed on!   Matt Niemerski, Ocean Advocate

OCEANA | Protecting the World’s Oceans
1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, 5th Floor | Washington, DC 20036 USA
D +1.202.467-1931
E mniemerski@oceana.org | W http://oceana.org

Group Sign 4-15 KGL OCS REV SHR [FINAL][1]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/house-will-wait-till-next-year-to-push-574191.html

Palm Beach Post:  House will wait till next year to push offshore drilling plan
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated: 6:17 p.m. Friday, April 16, 2010
Posted: 5:24 p.m. Friday, April 16, 2010
TALLAHASSEE – The House sponsor of legislation that would lift a ban on offshore drilling in Florida’s state waters said Friday he was dropping the effort for this year but would try again in 2011.

Rep. Dean Cannon made the announcement as a committee he chairs began reviewing a draft that had yet to be filed with just two weeks left in the 60-day legislative session.
It would have allowed drilling rigs as close as three miles from shore on a temporary basis. Permanent rigs or platforms would have had to stay at least six miles away.

“It is not the right time to vote on this issue,” said the Winter Park Republican. “I haven’t seen any evidence that would suggest that our counterparts in the Senate have an appetite for this issue this year.”

Instead, he plans to use the draft as a starting point next year when he’ll preside over the House as speaker if Republicans retain their majority as expected.

He’ll also have a powerful partner. Sen. Mike Haridopolos, an Indialantic Republican who has been leading the push for offshore oil and natural gas drilling in the other chamber, has been designated as Senate president for 2011-12.

Cannon’s draft bill would allow drilling in state waters that extend about 10 miles into the Gulf of Mexico and some three miles into the Atlantic Ocean.

It would not affect federal waters farther from shore. President Barack Obama recently announced plans to lift drilling barriers there. He wants to open up the Atlantic from Delaware to central Florida and plans to ask Congress to repeal a ban on drilling in the gulf within 125 miles of Florida’s beaches.

Cannon sponsored a similar bill that passed in the House late in last year’s session. Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, was cool to the idea and it was not taken up in the Senate.

Proponents said drilling can be done safely to help reduce dependence on foreign oil while providing the state with a new source of revenue.

Opponents said it still wasn’t worth the risk to Florida’s environment and tourism industry nor would it provide the state with a significant boost to either its economy or treasury.

Thanks to Richard Charter as ever!

http://cbs4.com/wireapnewsfl/House.sponsor.drops.2.1636485.html
CBS Channel 4  Florida AP News

Sponsor Drops Fla. Offshore Drilling Plan For Now
BILL KACZOR, Associated Press Writer
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – The House sponsor of legislation that would lift a ban on offshore drilling in Florida’s state waters said Friday he was dropping the effort for this year but would try again in 2011.

Rep. Dean Cannon made the announcement as a committee he chairs began reviewing a draft that had yet to be filed with just two weeks left in the 60-day legislative session.

It would have allowed drilling rigs as close as three miles from shore on a temporary basis. Permanent rigs or platforms would have had to stay at least six miles away.

“It is not the right time to vote on this issue,” said the Winter Park Republican. “This is a bicameral process and I haven’t seen any evidence that would suggest that our counterparts in the Senate have an appetite for this issue this year.”

Instead, he plans to use the draft as a starting point next year when he’ll preside over the House as speaker if Republicans retain their majority as expected.

He’ll also have a powerful partner. Sen. Mike Haridopolos, an Indialantic Republican who has been leading the push for offshore oil and natural gas drilling in the other chamber, has been designated as Senate president for 2011-12.

Haridopolos would replace Senate President Jeff Atwater, a North Palm Beach Republican who is leaving the Legislature to run for chief financial officer.

Cannon’s draft bill would allow drilling in state waters that extend about 10 miles into the Gulf of Mexico and some three miles into the Atlantic Ocean.

It would not affect federal waters farther from shore. President Barack Obama recently announced plans to lift drilling barriers there. He wants to open up the Atlantic from Delaware to central Florida and plans to ask Congress to repeal a ban on drilling in the gulf within 125 miles of Florida’s beaches.

Cannon sponsored a similar bill that passed in the House late in last year’s session. Atwater was cool to the idea and it was not taken up in the Senate.

The Select Policy Council on Strategic & Economic Planning agreed to send a report on the issue to Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, that he can forward to his successor – Cannon.

The panel first took public testimony, again hearing the usual arguments.

Proponents said drilling can be done safely to help reduce dependence on foreign oil while providing the state with a new source of revenue.

Opponents said it still wasn’t worth the risk to Florida’s environment and tourism industry nor would it provide the state with a significant boost to either its economy or treasury.

Jay Liles, representing the Florida Wildlife Federation and Apalachicola Riverkeeper, said Florida instead should do more to promote renewable energy.

“This bill will rely on false promises of energy independence based on hope-for bonanzas,” Liles said. “If we can create more jobs, if we can grow a stronger economy by supporting renewable energy in a stronger fashion could we not forgo or at least stall the decision to go into our natural resources by drilling near shore?”

Florida Petroleum Council executive director Dave Mica spoke in favor of the bill. Mica acknowledged drilling in state waters was not the answer to energy independence or full employment but he argued it was part of the equation.

He credited the Legislature’s examination of the issue with persuading many Floridians to drop their long-standing opposition to drilling.

“We’ve won an awful lot of brains by this discussion,” Mica said. “We’ve still got some hearts to go.”

special thanks to Richard Charter

http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/542033.html?nav=5011
Williamsport Sun Gazette
Williamsport, PA
Gas industry’s potential impact on the environment discussed at public hearing here
By DAVID THOMPSON dthompson@sungazette.com
POSTED: April 14, 2010
State Rep. Rick Mirabito, D-Williamsport, top photo, looks on as state Rep. Marc Gergely, D-White Oak, asks a question during the state House Democratic Policy Committee hearing on environmental issues of the Marcellus Shale and the Chesapeake Bay on Tuesday at Lycoming College.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette
While few people are questioning the enormous economic impact of developing the natural gas resources in the Marcellus Shale, the gas industry’s potential impact on the environment is generating a lively debate.
That debate came to Lycoming College Tuesday during a public hearing by the state House Democratic Policy Committee.

The event, which mostly focused on environmental issues related to gas exploration, and to a lesser extent, the Chesapeake Bay, was co-chaired by state Reps. Rick Mirabito, D-Williamsport, and Mike Sturla, D-Lancaster.
Also sitting on the panel was state Rep. Mike Hanna, D-Lock Haven. Hanna said he supports a moratorium on leasing state land until the full impact of the gas industry is known.

A diverse group of speakers provided testimony regarding the Marcellus Shale during the near four-hour session.

Scott Perry, director of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Oil and Gas Management, discussed the agency’s role in regulating the industry and efforts it is taking to ensure gas development is done with minimal impact on the environment.

Perry said that while other departments within the agency have reduced staff because of the state’s budget problems, the oil and gas bureau has added personnel.

In spite of that, the agency – and the industry – face challenges on what to do with water-borne pollutants, such as Total Dissolved Solids or “TDS,” generated by the industry.

Perry said TDS in gas industry wastewater has concentrations of salt many times that of sea water.

Technologies exist to removed dissolved solids from gas wastewater, he said. However, the capacity to treat expected wastewater volumes does not yet exist in the state, he said.

Perry said he favors imposing a severance tax on gas removed from the shale to provide funding to cover the cost of mitigating the impact of gas exploration on local communities and the environment.

Terry Bossert, vice president of government affairs for Texas-based Chief Oil and Gas, discussed his company’s efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of shale development.

Those efforts include developing an inspection program for every well the company drills, Bossert said. The company also is using more stringent standards for its well casing – alternating layers of steel pipe and cement designed to prevent the migration of gas into ground water aquifers – proposed, but not yet adopted, by the DEP.

“We always case our wells the way we’re going to under the new regulations,” he said.

The industry’s use of a single well pad to drill multiple wells reduces land disturbance, he said.

“It would be foolish to say we could develop the Marcellus Shale and not have any impact on the environment,” Bossert said, adding that all human activity comes with some degree of environmental impact.

Bossert said the gas industry is well-regulated in Pennsylvania. His company deals with many agencies, including the DEP, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Game Commission, Fish and Boat Commission and Army Corps of Engineers.

“We’ve even dealt with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission,” Bossert said.

The latter agency came into the picture when Chief was building a pipeline and came across an old abandoned still, he said.

The one thing the industry needs from regulatory agencies is “consistency from region to region and project to project.”

Bossert said he does not oppose a severance tax, but believes it is the wrong time to do it while the industry is investing millions of dollars in the early stages of Marcellus Shale development.

Jon Bogle, co-founder of local industry watchdog group Responsible Drilling Alliance, said air pollution may be the industry’s biggest health risk.

Bogle discussed a study by Dr. Al Armendariz, an environmental engineering professor at Southern Methodist University who now is an administrator with the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The study, which was contested by the gas industry, showed that gas industry operations caused more smog pollution than all motorized vehicles and airport operations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Bogle said.

Bogle also cited air and noise pollution issues that arose in Dish, Texas, a town in the Barnett Shale region.

His testimony included a recent story published in the Dallas Morning News showing most Barnett Shale facilities such as wells, condensate tanks and compressor stations emitted toxic chemicals into the air.

Bogle said that while air pollution may be the biggest health risk, it also may be the easiest pollution to control because of readily available equipment.
Also speaking were Eric Conrad, of the North Central Workforce Investment Board, and Thomas Beaudy, deputy director of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission.

Beaudy discussed the industry’s need for water for gas drilling operations. The commission must approve water use for any Marcellus Shale drilling operation in the river basin.

According to Beaudy, the industry currently is using less than 1 million gallons of water per day. At full production, about 28 million gallons of water will be used per day, he said.

Also discussed during the hearing was the possible development of an industry-generated fund that could be used to deal with long-term environmental impacts discovered after the industry has left the area.

According to Mirabito, the hearing was part of an effort to “explore issues so we can get the facts on the table and make informed decisions.”
“We all need air, water and soil to survive,” Mirabito said. “We also need energy. We all drove here and we all took showers with water (heated) by hot water heaters.”

http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/florida-democrats-divided-obama-drilling-plan-0
Sunshine State News
Florida Democrats Divided on Obama Drilling Plan
BY: KEVIN DERBY | POSTED: APRIL 13, 2010 12:15 AM
It’s rare to see a former Florida Democratic Party chairman taking President Barack Obama to task — but that’s exactly what Scott Maddox is doing on the issue of offshore oil drilling.
With Obama having come out for expanded offshore energy exploration, including up to 125 miles off the shore of the Sunshine State, Florida Democrats are somewhat divided in their backing of the president. While some leading Democrats, including state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, are backing the president, Maddox and Democrats in the U.S. House continue to fight the proposal.

Maddox, now the frontrunner in a crowded Democratic primary for commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, had made opposition to offshore drilling one of the centerpieces of his campaign, even answering calls to “drill, baby, drill” with “no, baby, no.”

Maddox sent a letter to the White House on Monday, pleading with the president to pull the plug on any plans for drilling off the coast of Florida.

“When it comes to offshore oil drilling however, on behalf of the millions of Floridians who depend on clean beaches, clean water and a struggling tourism economy; please, not in our backyard,” wrote Maddox.

He played up the financial threat that offshore drilling could represent to Florida tourism.
“These beaches are not just environmental treasures; they are one of the most important drivers of our economy as well,” wrote Maddox. “In fact, we depend on their environmental vitality to ensure our financial security.”

Maddox is not alone among Florida’s Democrats in pushing back against the president’s call for expanded drilling. U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz sent a letter to the president on March 31, blasting his proposal for offshore drilling 125 miles from Florida’s shores.

Like Maddox, the representatives focused on the environmental impact as well as the potential damage offshore drilling could have on tourism.

“In an already depressed economy, and with unemployment in the state of Florida nearing 13 percent, the last thing we need to do is endanger nearly one million jobs and the $65 billion tourism industry in our state,” said Brown. “Indeed, drilling for oil anywhere near Florida’s coasts, even if the drilling takes place more than 125 miles offshore, could prove devastating to Florida’s tourist industry.”

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor sent a letter to the president April 5 in which she expressed her concerns with drilling off Florida’s shores.

“There are some places in our country that are too special to drill,” said Castor. “Florida’s coastline certainly fits that description.”

Still, the president’s plan has backers among Florida Democrats.

State CFO Alex Sink, the likely Democratic gubernatorial nominee, endorsed the president’s plan March 31.

“I support additional offshore exploration 125 miles from Florida’s coasts,” Sink said, though she added that she opposed drilling closer to the shore.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson offered conditional support for the president’s plans, but he is waiting to meet with officials from the defense department before fully endorsing them. Nelson is attempting to schedule meeting with Pentagon brass to see if drilling would get in the way of military operations off Florida’s coast.

The primary field for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated reflected the divisions among Florida Democrats.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the frontrunner in the Democratic primary, had some concerns about the president’s proposal and said that the issue needed to be looked at in depth.

“Today’s announcement on energy security and independence requires serious consideration and study as questions remain unanswered, but caution must trump expediency,” Meek said after the president released his plan.

Former North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns, one of Meek’s opponents in the Democratic primary, blasted Obama’s plans.

“From day one of my campaign I have said, ‘Not one mile, not five miles, not 50 miles, not 100 miles off our shores’,” said Burns. “Our economy, our way of life and our children’s future are too important to play political games with – we need real solutions for energy independence, not more short term profiteering for the richest corporations.”

 Contact Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com, or at (904) 521-3722.

Special thanks to Richard Charter