{"id":6025,"date":"2018-08-17T15:18:11","date_gmt":"2018-08-17T15:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/?p=6025"},"modified":"2021-05-19T01:04:10","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T01:04:10","slug":"politics-explore-offshore-makes-their-case-for-more-energy-exploration-off-florida-coasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/2018\/08\/17\/politics-explore-offshore-makes-their-case-for-more-energy-exploration-off-florida-coasts\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics: Explore Offshore Makes Their Case for More Energy Exploration off Florida Coasts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By\u00a0 KEVIN DERBY<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
August 15, 2018 – 1:30pm<\/span><\/div>\n
\"JimJim Nicholson and Jeff Kottkamp<\/div>\n
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The American Petroleum Institute (API) brought its \u201cExplore Offshore\u201d efforts to Florida on Wednesday<\/span><\/span>, calling on expanding energy exploration efforts including in the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic seaboard.<\/p>\n

The national \u201cExplore Offshore\u201d campaign, which was launched in June, is led by former U.S. Veterans Affairs Sec. Jim Nicholson, who led the Republican National Committee (RNC), and former U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2016 election cycle.<\/p>\n

Leading the \u201cExplore Offshore\u201d efforts in Florida are former Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp and Dr.\u00a0Miriam Ramirez who served in the Senate of Puerto Rico. Kottkamp served under then Gov. Charlie Crist who has opposed drilling in the Gulf, even calling for a special legislative session on the issue. Crist held that special session after the massive oil spill in the Gulf in 2010.\u00a0 However, while Crist started drifting to the left and that and other issues to run for the U.S. Senate in 2010 with no party affiliation and eventually join the Democrats, Kottkamp has remained a conservative Republican.<\/p>\n

Nicholson was in Tallahassee on Wednesday<\/span><\/span> and made the case for expanding energy exploration in the Sunshine State.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur American way of life and the freedoms we enjoy are undoubtedly linked to access to affordable, reliable energy,\u201d Nicholson said. \u201cAt the same time, 94 percent of America\u2019s offshore energy resources are completely off-limits to natural gas and oil development, disallowing hundreds of thousands of American jobs and abundant domestic energy supply, and keeping us reliant on foreign sources.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we plan ahead as a country, access to our offshore energy resources is a key part of the nation\u2019s economic future and national security, and that is why I am pleased to chair the national Explore Offshore USA coalition,\u201d Nicholson added. \u201cUniting supporters from Virginia to Florida, we will continue to work to ensure access to our offshore energy resources to support reliable, affordable energy, boost national security, and assure a strong United States economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAffordable energy is critical to our quality of life in the Sunshine State. We are speaking with our local leaders throughout Florida to discuss ways to maintain our state\u2019s natural beauty and meet the energy needs of our growing population of over 20 million residents and 110 million annual visitors,\u201d Kottkamp said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can support thriving tourism industries here in Florida all while developing offshore energy resources that could create high-paying jobs in our state,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cWe cannot take access to reliable, affordable energy for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida Petroleum Council Director David Mica also weighed in on Wednesday<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cExplore Offshore is a united, bipartisan voice and we are working to ensure that Florida has all options available for boosting job creation and its economic and energy future. As Florida remains one of the largest consumers of energy in the country, offshore development is critical to our energy security and our economy,\u201d Mica said.<\/p>\n

Nicholson, Mica and Kottkamp stressed the improvements in technology would lower the chances of something like the Deepwater Horizon spill happening again with Nicholson saying it was \u201cnearly impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kottkamp stressed that the group\u2019s efforts were far more about exploration instead of drilling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not talking \u2018drill, baby, drill.\u2019 We\u2019re talking \u2018explore, baby, explore,\u2019\u201d Kottkamp said. \u201cWe can do this is a balanced, responsible to protect the environment of Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramirez stressed how more access to energy would help Puerto Ricans hit by Hurricane Maria last year, noting the large number of residents of that island who went without power, stressing \u201clack of power can literally mean the difference between life and death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting that oil and natural gas make up most electricity use at the state and national levels, Explore Offshore insisted that energy exploration in the Gulf and off the coast of Florida could lead to more than 56,000 new jobs by 2035 and add $1 billion annually to the state revenue and $2.6 billion in private development.<\/p>\n

Bradley Marshall, a staff attorney at Earthjustice, pushed back against Kottkamp\u2019s claims that the Deepwater Horizon impacted other states–namely Louisiana–far more than Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s absurd to claim the Deepwater Horizon spill did not reach Florida, given devastation we experienced from that disaster,\u201d Marshall said. \u201cThe reality is that there is no such thing as safe offshore drilling.\u00a0 In Florida, millions of jobs in the tourism industry are at stake in protecting our beaches.\u00a0 That\u2019s why so many of Florida\u2019s leaders, regardless of what political party they belong to, have been so protective of our coasts all these years.\u00a0 The bottom line is that it is irresponsible to threaten Florida\u2019s beaches.\u00a0 Instead of continuing to invest in the harmful fossil fuels of the past, we should be investing in the clean, renewable energy of the future.\u00a0 That\u2019s where the jobs are at, and that\u2019s what will protect Florida\u2019s coastal environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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READ MORE FROM SUNSHINE STATE NEWS<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Offshore Energy Exploration Is Safe, Has Been Going on for 81 Years<\/a><\/p>\n

Voters: Offshore Energy Is Good for Florida<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Permalink<\/a>Submitted by\u00a0BobH<\/span>\u00a0on August 16, 2018 – 3:27pm<\/div>\n
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This is a sorry state, if they allow drilling for more “ANCIENT”, inefficient energy. America has fallen so far behind other advanced economies when it comes to energy production. Florida FOR SURE! We’re the Sunshine State, for crying out loud. The fact that we’ve only scratched the surface of Solar Energy is embarrassing. Now I know southern boys, like their gas guzzling toys. That’s fine. Let them keep their pickups and mud buggies. Just charge them a lot more for wasting gas. And just TRY and put a residential wind turbine on your roof. OH NO! You have to supply government with all the permits AND engineering drawings, before you even can buy one. I don’t have that much money.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n