Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 12-11-09

FEATURED STORIES

Black bear hunting may resume in Panhandle
The Associated Press
Florida Today
Mickey Larkins would rather watch bears than hunt them.

Crane once part of Operation Migration shot
By Amanda Nalley
Tallahassee Democrat
Even though whooping cranes have been protected from hunting by the Endangered Species Act since 1973, someone in Indiana apparently did not get the message.

Foes target growth laws months before session
By Jane Healy
Orlando Sentinel
As legislators prepare for next year's session, those in favor of weakening growth laws have started lurking the halls.

Florida’s Turf War Over Fertilizer Pollution Heats Up
By Gina Presson
Public News Service Florida
The turf war over fertilizer use is heating up in Hillsborough County this week. On Wednesday, the county commission, in its dual role as the Environmental Protection Commission, considers limiting fertilizer pollution in area waterways.

Fla. delegation weighs in on EPA water standards
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Twenty-five members of Florida's congressional delegation have signed a letter urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to work closely with state officials and industry in setting limits for nutrients in Florida waterways.

Everglades restoration advocates hail beginning of Tamiami Trail bridge
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Related editorial: One big leap for Everglades restoration
How big was Friday's Tamiami Trail bridge ground-breaking for Everglades restoration advocates and managers?

New Coalition Could Mean 10.5 Billion Dollar Restoration to Florida Everglades
By Gina Presson
Public News Service Florida
In a move that could bring billions of dollars to Florida, four of the state's environmental groups joined forces with nearly 30 other organizations this week to form the "America's Great Waters Coalition."

Wading birds' breeding rebounded over past decade -- good news for Everglades
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Wading birds, the most beautiful residents of the Everglades and key measuring sticks of its biological health, have been breeding in numbers last recorded more than a half-century ago.

An early OK for a plan to help protect manatees
By Kate Spinner
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
A state wildlife commission gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a plan for reducing manatee deaths here by expanding slow boat speed zones.

FL Could Benefit From Climate Summit Treaty
By Gina Presson
Public News Service Florida
Florida's hopes for a clean energy economy are running high as leaders from nearly 200 nations meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, today through Dec. 18 in an attempt to reach an international treaty to combat global warming.

Protect Florida's fish: Only a fishing ban can save red snapper, 8 others until rebound
Editorial
Miami Herald
Florida's signature fish, red snapper, has been overharvested for years in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

Nutrient overload: Cleaning polluted surface waters no 'burden' to Florida
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Too few Floridians are aware of the deadly nutrient overloads in Florida's surface waters.

Seize the moment on climate change
Editorial
Miami Herald
Today 56 newspapers in 45 countries take the unprecedented step of speaking with one voice through a common editorial. We do so because humanity faces a profound emergency.


The endangered wood stork is rebounding from recent nesting failures.

THE BIG OIL ROUNDUP

The Big Oil roundup: news and information about Big Oil’s push to rig Florida’s coastline for the week ending 12-11-09:



A False Solution Called Offshore Oil Drilling
By Toni Reale
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Our nation is at an historical crossroads with how we choose to produce the energy that fuels our way of life.

Environment Florida warns new climate bill could mean Florida drilling; asks LeMieux to join Nelson in opposition
By Lesley Clark
Miami Herald
Environment Florida is panning the approach senators have taken in a new Senate climate control bill, saying it could lead to drilling off the Florida coast.

Scott Maddox: “No Baby, No”
Don’t Drill Florida
Agriculture Commissioner Candidate Scott Maddox on nearshore oil drilling: “I can think of no better way to destroy our economy and hurt average Floridians than to mortgage our future on the risky proposition of putting oil rigs a few miles off our coast.

Keep our coastline pristine and deep six Big Oil's plans
By Jeffrey C. Ellis
Ft. Walton Sun
As a native Northwest Floridian who has lived along many of its numerous coastlines, I feel drilling for oil offshore in the Gulf of Mexico is an extremely bad idea and would be detrimental to the health of the state’s shore.

Town council tells lawmakers not to drill off our beaches
By Christina Hernandez
WINK-CBS News Southwest Florida
Some say drilling for oil off Fort Myers Beach will ruin the town, but others think it'll help the economy.

County might not go with the flow on oil drilling
By Carl Orth
The Suncoast News
Pasco County commissioners want to get to the bottom of the oil drilling issue, so they are planning a local workshop in January.

Drilling's economic impact
Editorial
Northwest Florida Daily News
On the first day of our Nov. 22-24 series, “Oil & Water,” state Rep. Dave Murzin of Pensacola described the impetus behind the renewed debate over Gulf Coast drilling.

Near-Shore Oil Drilling: Slick Technology Sham
Editorial
Lakeland Ledger
Floridians and their legislators have had many reasons to be skeptical since proposals surfaced rapidly to open near-shore waters to exploration and drilling for oil.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Write Your State Senator: Big Oil's Promises Are "Empty"
Big Oil and their hired hands in Tallahassee have sworn that drilling Florida’s coast would be “invisible” – that there would be no unsightly rigs just a few miles off our coast. We know different – and a recent eye opening story in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune has proven Big Oil’s promises completely “empty.” Click the picture above – keeping the pressure on by letting our State Senators know people like you are paying attention is how we’ll beat Big Oil.

MORE ONLINE ACTIONS
Help Drill for Solutions Not for Oil, via Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
Let us decide! Petition to Governor Charlie Crist, Senate President Jeff Atwater, and House Speaker Larry Cretul, via Civic Concern.
Contact Your Officials About New Drilling Off Florida's Coasts, via Civic Concern.
Ask your state legislators to keep the rigs out, via Save the Manatee Club.
Write a letter to the editor, via Audubon of Florida.
Write your state legislators, via Audubon of Florida.
Urge Senate President Jeff Atwater to oppose offshore oil drilling, via Progress Florida.
Tell Sen. Atwater Not To Allow Oil Drilling In Special Session, via Audubon of Florida.
Sign the petition against oil drilling, via Protect Florida’s Beaches.
Tell Salazar: No drilling off Florida's Coast, via Environment Florida.
Tell new Senator LeMieux to Repower America, via Environment Florida.
Related action: Don't go drill crazy in the Everglades, via Center for Biological Diversity.
Related action: Keep oil drilling out of climate change legislation, via Oceana.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OF NOTE
Protect Florida’s Beaches, recently launched coalition website.
Protect Florida’s Beaches on Facebook.
Think, Baby, Think blog via Protect Florida’s Beaches.
Don’t Drill Florida website.
Don’t Drill Florida Facebook page.
Hands Across The Sand website.
Environment Florida offshore drilling page.
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy offshore drilling page.
Skytruth blog, an excellent source of info.
Not the Answer blog, courtesy Surfrider Foundation.
EnergyFLA.com, online hub of drilling proponents; their Twitter page is here.

MORE GREEN NEWS

Governors to meet over tri-state water dispute
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
The governors of Alabama, Florida and Georgia likely won't have a proposed water-sharing agreement in hand next week when they meet to discuss the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system, a Florida official said today.

Study on St. Johns water withdrawals extended
By Dinah Voyles Pulver
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The deadline for completion of a study on possible environmental impacts of pumping water from the St. Johns River will be extended.

State senators to visit Ocala to discuss water issues
By Fred Hiers
Ocala Star-Banner
Florida lawmakers on the powerful Senate Select Committee on Inland Waters will make Ocala their first stop next week as part of a statewide tour and public meetings to discuss water issues.
Recreational Fishing Alliance challenges red snapper closure
By Jim Sutton
Florida Times-Union
The Recreational Fishing Alliance wasted no time in mounting a legal challenge to an interim red snapper closure, announced Thursday by the federal government and entered into the Federal Registry on Friday.

Interior Secretary pledges to protect lagoon
By Megan Downs
Florida Today
Ken Salazar, secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, visited the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge Saturday morning, pledging to protect the national parks and fight global warming at the worldwide conference.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium announces Winter the dolphin inspires movie
By Dominick Tao
St. Petersburg Times
Winter the dolphin first entered the spotlight when she was pulled from a tangle of buoy line off Florida's east coast four years ago. The calf's injuries were so severe, she lost her tail.

Man's answer to conservation is blowin' in the wind
By Jim Waymer
Florida Today
The blades that spin in George T. Stringfellow's backyard help slash his electric bill by about 75 percent.

Do Florida flatwoods fight global warming?
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
An electronic connoisseur of carbon rose above a large patch of piney wilderness near Orlando on Wednesday, sniffing for data that could play a part in any global response to the climate change being hotly debated by diplomats this week in Copehagen.

A Fake Scandal
The Progress Report
Think Progress
As delegates from countries across the globe gather at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, the world is waiting to see if international leaders will commit to the bold reductions in carbon emissions needed to curb the effects of global warming.

Cabinet rejects county landowners' efforts to intensify developments
By Jennifer Sorentrue and Michael C. Bender
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet today unanimously ordered Palm Beach County to rescind a pair of growth plan amendments that would have expanded development density for two property owners.

FWC approves draft rule changes for imperiled species listing
From the FWC
TC Palm
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) heard draft rules for endangered and threatened species in Florida at the meeting in Clewiston on Wednesday.

FWC approves rule to allow peregrine falcons for falconry in Florida
Press Release
FWC
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved a rule allowing falconers to take peregrine falcons for the sport of falconry at its meeting in Clewiston on Wednesday.

Paper or plastic? I'll take BYOB
By Sue Carlton
St. Petersburg Times
On a recent morning when I was lucky enough to walk the beach, I saw the tide had gone out, way out, leaving behind what looked like a scattering of children's toys across the sand.

Ten years after
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
It's been 10 years since the EPA was petitioned to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.



Editorial cartoon by Chan Lowe, South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Read the artist’s commentary here.

Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

"it's all connected"

Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 12-4-09

FEATURED STORIES

For Gov. Charlie Crist, it's not easy being green
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
What happened to the man they once called "Governor Green"?

Florida coalition targets pending federal pollution rules
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
After losing on the legal front, a powerful coalition of agriculture and business interests, wastewater utilities, water managers and tax watchdogs is mounting a lobbying assault on pending federal rules that could force Florida to clean up pollution fouling lakes, canals, streams and beaches statewide.

Manatee Deaths on Pace to Break Record
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
2009 is on track to be the deadliest year for Florida manatees, with an estimated 4-hundred deaths so far.

Growth Rush of 2009
By David Catron and Jim Saunders
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Developers seek land-use approvals before Hometown Democracy goes to voters.

Florida planners face legislative scrutiny on growth
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
State planners say it would take 268 years of population growth to use up the new home lots that already are allowed in Tallahassee and Leon County.

Fed rule halts red snapper fishing
By Jim Waymer
Florida Today
Come Jan. 4, better throw back that red snapper, at least in federal waters. Having one onboard will be illegal.

Florida ranks third in nation for coal power plant pollution (audio story)
By Sean Kinane
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
A new report released today lists Florida as the third worst state for power plant pollution.

Plentiful, green energy goes untapped in Florida
By Ken Kaye
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The Sunshine State receives enough rays to power every home from Key West to Pensacola.

State admits violations, seeks more Everglades cleanup time
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Water managers and environmental regulators have acknowledged the state is in violation of a landmark legal agreement requiring Florida to halt the flow of polluted water into the Everglades.

Push to overbuild continues
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Six months after the state turned from growth watchdog to lapdog, the fight over growth management in Florida continues.


Florida’s iconic manatee. 400 of these gentle giants have died in 2009 alone, the deadliest year on record.

THE BIG OIL ROUNDUP



Faulty promises in bid to drill off Florida?
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Take action now: Write Your State Senator: Big Oil's Promises Are "Empty"
The oil industry makes its case for drilling within a few miles of Florida’s coast by trumpeting a new kind of drilling that is “virtually invisible” on the coast.

Lobbyists pay out as oil issue heats up
By Paul Flemming
Gannett Florida Capital Bureau
Related: Some leery of the revenue promised by oil
Related: Energy industry political contributions database
Money makes things happen in this capital city. Consider Florida Energy Associates LLC, the entity behind the current push for drilling in Florida waters.

Drilling bill would likely pass House but not Senate
By Bill Cotterell
Gannett Florida Capital Bureau
Related: Lawmakers are wary of oily beaches
Related: Real prize could lie in waters controlled by US government
Related: Oil drilling: the players
The push for the Florida Legislature to approve near-shore Gulf Coast drilling in its 2010 session is like oil exploration itself — surveys and projections, expert opinions, test wells to take the political pulse and throwing around plenty of money in search of a gusher that ends in a positive vote.

Gulf of Mexico drilling proposal worries conservationists, tourism officials
By Jim Waymer
Gannett Newspapers
Related: Oil & Water: The debate over drilling in Florida
Related: Military bases could feel drilling's impact
Related: Where will they drill? ... and other questions
Related column: Why risk damaging tourism?
Oil spills kill fish, birds and tourist reservations.

New report says oil drilling will harm Florida coasts (includes audio)
By Lauren Martinez
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
The 3 to 10 miles the Florida Legislature controls off the state’s coastline has caught the attention of oil lobbyists who want to remove the drilling ban.

Offshore oil drillers now looking at Florida's east coast
By Jim Waymer
Florida Today
Wildcat wells might one day spring up off the Space Coast.

Florida's move to drill could sway Congress
By Jim Ash
Pensacola News Journal
The immediate debate in the Legislature is about drilling in waters controlled by the state in the narrow band up to 10.3 miles from the coast.

St. Joe Company mum on offshore oil drilling
By Jim Ash
Ft. Myers News-Press
Northwest Florida, proud home of turquoise waters and sugar-sand beaches, has become ground zero in the fight against the Legislature's push for offshore drilling.

Lots of risk, no reward in drilling off the coast of Florida
By Carter Hall
TC Palm
The siren song of big oil is seductive and enticing. It promises many things for Floridians: cheaper gas, more gas, new jobs, help with Florida’s budget problems and finally, safe technology with no spills.

Paradise lost to oil drilling
By Jonathan T. Baxter
Pensacola News Journal
I am a world traveler who, in a lighthearted way, has always said that if I find the perfect beach I would stop traveling.

Oil drilling momentum stuns Graham
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Former Florida Gov. Bob Graham is dismayed at how fast oil drilling advocates are gaining ground in their push to open the Gulf of Mexico to drilling.

Old Florida needs to let go of old ways
By Matthew Christ
Independent Alligator
The Gulf of Mexico may look calm from the porch I’ve perched myself on for the Thanksgiving holiday, but a contentious political storm is slowly brewing over efforts afoot in the Florida Legislature to repeal a ban on offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Offshore drilling resolution passes
By Suzette Porter
Tampa Bay Weekly
Despite objections from one Largo resident, the Board of Pinellas County Commissioners approved, 6-1, on Nov. 17, a resolution opposing oil and gas drilling in Florida’s waters.

Local elected officials urge opposition to drilling in gulf
By Sara Kennedy
Bradenton Herald
In an effort to counter proposals to allow oil and gas drilling as close as three miles from shore, Manatee County commissioners have written a letter opposing drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, officials said.

Southwest Florida's tourism industry OK with rigs, just not close to beach
By Laura Ruane
Ft. Myers News-Press
Southwest Florida’s lifeblood tourism industry, which promotes itself as the “Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel,” has mixed views about offshore drilling.

Florida's gulf drilling debate
Editorial
Northwest Florida Daily News
In a few months, the Florida Legislature will debate whether to allow drilling for oil and natural gas as close as three miles from Gulf Coast beaches.

It's just not worth it
Editorial
Pensacola News Journal
The News Journal Editorial Board has long opposed drilling within 100 miles of Gulf Coast beaches — even 150 miles, as proposed during congressional negotiations in 2006. Certainly not in state waters, within 10 miles of the coastline.

Atwater rejects rigged deck
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Fortunately, one of the three people who could stop the oil rush in Florida has done so.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Click the picture above to urge Senate President Jeff Atwater to oppose state legislative efforts that would allow offshore oil drilling off Florida’s coast.

LATEST ONLINE ACTIONS
Write Your State Senator: Big Oil's Promises Are "Empty", via Progress Florida.
Let us decide! Petition to Governor Charlie Crist, Senate President Jeff Atwater, and House Speaker Larry Cretul, via Civic Concern.
Contact Your Officials About New Drilling Off Florida's Coasts, via Civic Concern.

MORE ONLINE ACTIONS
Ask your state legislators to keep the rigs out, via Save the Manatee Club.
Write a letter to the editor, via Audubon of Florida.
Write your state legislators, via Audubon of Florida.
Tell Sen. Atwater Not To Allow Oil Drilling In Special Session, via Audubon of Florida.
Sign the petition against oil drilling, via Protect Florida’s Beaches.
Tell Salazar: No drilling off Florida's Coast, via Environment Florida.
Tell new Senator LeMieux to Repower America, via Environment Florida.
Related action: Don't go drill crazy in the Everglades, via Center for Biological Diversity.
Related action: Keep oil drilling out of climate change legislation, via Oceana.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OF NOTE
Protect Florida’s Beaches, recently launched coalition website.
Protect Florida’s Beaches on Facebook.
Think, Baby, Think blog via Protect Florida’s Beaches.
Don’t Drill Florida website.
Don’t Drill Florida Facebook page.
Hands Across The Sand website.
Environment Florida offshore drilling page.
Skytruth blog, an excellent source of info.
Not the Answer blog, courtesy Surfrider Foundation.
EnergyFLA.com, online hub of drilling proponents; their Twitter page is here.

MORE GREEN NEWS

Florida CFO Sink announces "paperless" initiative
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Florida CFO Alex Sink says her department's efforts to reduce the use of paper and printing have saved state taxpayers $1 million since 2007

It's time Florida adopts strong efficiency goals
By Cliff Thaell
Tallahassee Democrat
The Florida Public Service Commission took a step in the right direction when it rejected weak energy efficiency goals its staff had recommended for the state's largest power companies.

Neither utilities nor environmentalists happy with PSC goals
By Fred Hiers
Ocala Star-Banner
The Florida Public Service Commission's new 10-year energy conservation goals for the state's five investor-owned utility companies have garnered mixed reviews.

Florida delegation going to Copenhagen amid climate warnings
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
A group of 25 business and government officials is going to the United Nations climate change conference in Denmark next week to push for green jobs for Florida.

Legislators hold hearing on Everglades Restoration
The Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
A hearing has been scheduled to discuss Everglades restoration efforts in Homestead.

Our green lawns not worth loss of sea grass beds in gulf
By Dan DeWitt
St. Petersburg Times
The Weeki Wachee River, with that spectacularly clear water and white-sand bed, is the star, the glamor-puss.

Florida wildlife officials seeking Burmese python hunters for Everglades
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
The python patrol will be back next year.

DEP delays sewage sludge action after business complains
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Related: Florida commission considers sewage sludge rule changes
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection today delayed action on proposed stricter rules over the land disposal of sewage sludge after one disposal company said the changes could cost it more than $1,000 per day.

Argenziano takes helm of Public Service Commission
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Despite outside efforts to derail her appointment as the next Public Service Commission chairwoman, Nancy Argenziano won unanimous approval Tuesday to lead the utility authority for a two-year appointment beginning in January.

Fla. PSC approves renewable energy contracts
The Associated Press
Ocala Star Banner
The Public Service Commission has approved two biomass renewable energy contracts for Progress Energy Florida.

Boss: FPL's image has suffered
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Florida Power & Light chief Armando Olivera said Thursday that he was embarrassed to learn earlier this year that his top officials sent personal Blackberry messages and socialized with staff at the Public Service Commission, tarnishing the company's image as it awaits a ruling on its $1.3 billion rate increase request.

State considers protection for lemon sharks
By David Fleshler
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
They are the lords of the reefs, powerful 10-foot sharks that prowl shallow coastal waters, snatching stingrays, crabs and mullet.

Protecting consumers
Editorial
Florida Today
Turns out, it’s perfectly legal for Florida’s Public Service Commission to cozy up to the utilities the agency regulates, including by communicating off-the-record while critical debates about possible rate hikes are under way.

Springs cleaning
Editorial
Tallahassee Democrat
How can they protect the extraordinary resources of Wakulla Springs and also be fair to homeowners in the region whose dated septic tanks may be in need of replacing for the ecological well-being of one of the world's largest fresh-water springs and, in turn, the Floridan Aquifer.

Toward clean water
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
A federal judge was right to step in last week and clear the way for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to establish limits on pollution in Florida's lakes, rivers and bays.

Slithering toward crisis
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
A new government report offers chilling evidence that much of Florida could become ground zero for a fresh invasion by huge constrictor snakes.


Editorial cartoon by Ed Beattie, Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

"it's all connected"

Faulty promises in bid to drill off Florida?

Note: Folks, the below article is a dagger to the heart of one of the pro-drilling forces main arguments – that drilling would have a minimal visual footprint and would not be visible from shore. They even admit in this article that the technology they have been touting does not exist (see Banfill’s ridiculous quote). This article is a total credibility buster - please distribute widely.

Faulty promises in bid to drill off Florida?
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
November 29, 2009

The oil industry makes its case for drilling within a few miles of Florida’s coast by trumpeting a new kind of drilling that is “virtually invisible” on the coast.

The promise of subsea systems swayed some legislators to support opening Florida’s waters to drilling.

But a Herald-Tribune examination found that the promises made by drilling proponents are largely empty:

• One of the subsea systems being touted is almost exclusively used in water that is thousands of feet deeper than Florida’s coastal waters.

• Even the American Petroleum Institute concedes that subsea systems are intended for water more than 5,000 feet deep. Florida’s coastline, within the 10 miles the state controls, runs no deeper than 100 feet.

• Another system being promoted, a floating drilling system that uses large vessels tied to subsea drilling wells instead of fixed drilling platforms, has never been used anywhere in the Gulf of Mexico.

• The only way subsea systems would be viable off Florida’s coast is if large traditional drilling platforms were built nearby or the state allowed refineries and miles of pipelines to shore. History shows that is not likely to happen. A new oil refinery has not been built in the United States since the 1970s.

Absent such changes, drilling off Florida’s coast would likely be done with traditional fixed drilling platforms rising hundreds of feet above the water. These platforms, which dot the Louisiana and Texas coastlines, have for years symbolized Florida’s opposition to drilling.

Yet pro-drilling groups tell legislators that drilling off Florida’s coast would be different than elsewhere in the Gulf and that subsea systems would be used if the state rescinded its drilling ban.

“That’s all we heard about,” said State Rep. Doug Holder, R-Sarasota, who voted for a bill in May that would have allowed the governor and cabinet to permit drilling from 3 to 10 miles from shore. “If they can’t be used, then what are we talking about?”

Even oil industry officials scoff at the notion of a virtually invisible rig. Denise McCourt, industry relations director for the American Petroleum Institute, said recovering oil from the ocean requires traditional fixed platforms or a pipeline infrastructure like the one around Louisiana and Texas, where drilling has been going on since the 1940s.

“There’s no such thing as an invisible rig,” McCourt said.

Like the moon race?

When pressed, pro-drilling groups acknowledge that most of the subsea systems they promote are not viable in Florida’s coastal waters. But they insist that could change with time.

Ryan Banfill, a public relations pro with Florida Energy Associates in Tallahassee, which is lobbying for drilling, said technology is always changing. In the future, he said, the systems being promoted could be used off Florida. He rebutted the notion that subsea technology is being oversold.

“Just like President Kennedy oversold the technology that could take us to the moon, right,” Banfill said.

David Rancourt, a lobbyist for Florida Energy Associates, said that although subsea systems aren’t economically viable now, if the state demands them to protect ocean views, the industry will have to find a way to make them work in shallow waters even though they are far more expensive than traditional platforms.

Rancourt said one way subsea wells could work within 5 miles of shore, absent pipelines, is if they are tied back to full drilling platforms starting 6 miles out.

The out-of-view technology has been a critical piece of the debate to quell opposition. Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, who has led the push for drilling in Florida, stressed the out-of-sight rigs in a column for the Herald-Tribune this summer.

“Today, temporary ship-based rigs can drill wells far out of sight from shore, using directional drilling and subsea equipment to avoid surface visibility and to protect coastal vistas,” Cannon wrote.

On its Web site and in documents given to legislators, Florida Energy Associates focuses on subsea technologies as a key selling point.

“Subsea technologies allow for safe underwater energy exploration without creating a visual blight,” the group’s Web site states.

Subsea costs 10 times more

The systems promoted in glossy handouts to legislators have been common off the coasts of Brazil and West Africa, said Gary Flaharty, an analyst with Baker Hughes, a global oil and natural gas drilling consulting firm.

Flaharty said in those areas there is a rush to tap large, recently discovered crude oil deposits. So much crude oil is being discovered in those places, it makes it economically viable to use the subsea wells.

But subsea rigs are cost-prohibitive in shallower water because the systems cost 10 times more than traditional platforms. One subsea well can cost between $50 million and $70 million, not counting pipelines that cost $1 million a mile to build.

Of the 4,000 drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, there are a few hundred subsea wells, said Mark Kaiser, a professor with Louisiana State University’s Center for Energy Studies. Some of these are close to shore, he said, but only because they are connected to extensive underwater pipelines and onshore oil refineries.

Slowing the debate

Holder and other state senators say they want to punt the oil drilling discussion for at least a year to gather more information.

Instead of blindly trusting the information from both sides of the drilling debate, Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, said he wants the issue kicked to a non-governmental group to review the science.

“I don’t think we know enough,” said Bennett, who opposes drilling off the coast but said the promise of new technology has made him more willing to listen to pro-drilling groups.

Bennett has pushed to get the issue heard by the Century Commission, a non-government group that is expected to hold a statewide forum on oil drilling early in 2010.

Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-Palm Beach County, told a Sarasota group earlier this month that the Senate would not act without studying the science and the facts.

With all the questions about the technology, State Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, said it is probably best that Florida slow down the debate and get more into understanding how the technology works.

“I don’t think the Florida Senate will pick this up this year,” Detert said.

Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

"it's all connected"

Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 11-20-09

FEATURED STORIES

Regulating growth now much harder, Pelham says
By Nathan Crabbe
Ocala Star-Banner
Making his second run as secretary of the Florida Department of Community Affairs, Thomas Pelham said the process of regulating growth has taken a turn for the worse.

Sierra Club petitions to have critical habitat for endangered Florida panther
Staff Report
Ft. Myers News
The Sierra Club today filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to designate critical habitat for the endangered Florida panther.

Industry reps slam DEP bag ban recommendation
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Representatives of stores and packaging industries slammed the Department of Environmental Protection today for a draft report's recommendation to tax and then ban plastic and paper bags in Florida.

Gore's presentation on climate change draws 800 as 200 protestors gather outside
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Confused Palm Beach County voters helped thwart Al Gore's 2000 bid to become president of the United States, but he was introduced as "president of the planet" when he returned here Saturday night to deliver an environmental lecture.

Feds to Set State Pollution Limits
By Bill Kaczor
The Associated Press
The federal government will attempt to set Florida's water pollution standards - the first time it'll try that for any state - under an agreement approved Monday.

Hometown Democracy: Pols fear power of the people
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
You know who really scares Buddy Dyer and the rest of the folks down at Orlando City Hall?

Full speed backward on growth management
By Robert M. Weintraub
Gainesville Sun
In 1985, Governor Graham’s administration placed an important legal framework in place in Florida to control rampant, undisciplined growth that threatened wetlands, induced traffic congestion, and promoted random sprawl.

Growth debate pits amendment backers, detractors
By Derek Catron
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Both sides see something wrong with Florida's growth patterns, but the question of how to fix it could fuel one of the biggest political fights Florida has ever seen.

FSU Professor studying impact of Gulf of Mexico 'dead zones' on marine life
By Doug Blackburn
Tallahassee Democrat
Kevin Craig may have the largest lab of any biology professor at Florida State University.

Nuclear companies face reactor design problems, ethics questions
By Sue Sturgis
Facing South
Federal regulators have expressed serious safety concerns about the design for 14 of the nation's 25 proposed new nuclear reactors, raising questions about the future of what the industry calls its "renaissance."

Half-inch crack found inside containment wall while Crystal River nuclear plant closed for maintenance
By Richard Danielson
St. Petersburg Times
Progress Energy and federal officials continue to investigate the cause of a half-inch-wide crack recently found inside a containment wall at the Crystal River nuclear plant.

Investing in nuclear power
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Say you want to build a nuclear power plant. It won't be easy, cheap or quick. Nor has it been done for three decades in the United States.

Florida Preservation: Forever's Time Runs Out
Editorial
Lakeland Ledger
Forever, as it turns out, arrived in 2009. That is when the shortsighted members of the Florida Legislature managed to kill all funding for the Florida Forever program.

Whooping cranes on the way
By Amanada Nalley
Tallahassee Democrat
Related AP story: Whooping cranes make annual journey to Fla.
Somewhere in LaSalle County, Ill., 20 whooping cranes are awaiting better weather. The cranes are part of Operation Migration, a nonprofit group establishing a migrating flock of endangered whooping cranes that will nest in Wisconsin and winter in Florida.


An endangered whooping crane takes flight in North Florida.

THE BIG OIL ROUNDUP

Drilling: wrong way to go
By Waldo Proffitt
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
You will remember, I hope, that last week this space was occupied by the story of a huge oil spill 155 miles off the coast of northern Australia -- how that spill came from a 2-year-old drilling rig using the latest technology, how it spread an oil slick over a vast area of the Timor Sea, and how a spill of such size off the Gulf coast of Florida would endanger both hundreds of miles of white, sandy beaches and billions of dollars worth of income from tourism.

Report compares drilling to coast's natural value
By Mary Landers
Savannah Morning News
In an attempt to shift the focus away from the profits of offshore drilling and onto the risk, two national environmental groups are comparing the value of sustainable ocean activities to the predicted value of extractable oil and gas.

Oil and water will never mix in the Sunshine State
By Dave Rauschkolb
Fort Walton Sun
Dear Mr. Shaffer, Thank you for your thoughtful comments regarding Hands Across The Sand and this proposed oil legislation.

Brakes tapped on oil drilling
By John Kennedy
News Service of Florida via Sarasota Herald-Tribune
By ordering an environmental panel to study the wide-ranging effects of offshore oil drilling, Senate President Jeff Atwater is "sending a serious message," the committee's chairman said.

A fact check on Big Oil backers
By Fred Buehler
Fort Walton Sun
In a Nov. 7 local perspective column, Mr. Swiercz demonstrates the problems in discussing the facts about offshore drilling.

Don't risk our future by drilling off our coasts
By June Girard
Gainesville Sun
Here we go again. How many times must Floridians say "No" to drilling in the Gulf?

Tell the EPA to Protect the Everglades from Mining
Action Alert
National Parks Conservation Association
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to issue mining permits for the destruction of up to 15,000 acres of wetlands near Everglades National Park.

Thumb up: Atwater keeps drillers at bay, for now
Editorial
TC Palm
He hasn’t said “no” yet, but Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater hinted he might not consider offshore drilling next year.

State should beware of drilling promises
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
State lawmakers and the people of Florida should see it is an affront to conservative government and fiscal prudence to risk priceless resources and the state's economy for the dubious promises of a secret group of oil interests.

US Senate call for Montara well probe
By John Phaceas
Business News
A senior US senator has demanded a federal investigation into the company responsible for operating the crippled oil rig at the Montara oil project which spewed thousands of barrels of condensate into the Timor Sea.


The Montara West Atlas oil rig. Part of PTTE's Safety, Security, Health and Environment statement: "PTTEP’s ultimate SSHE goal is to conduct its activities without undue impact on the personnel and properties of the Company and its contractors, the general public and the environment." Note the inclusion of the word "undue" and how protection of the company's property ranks higher than that of the general public and environment!


TAKE ACTION NOW

Click the picture above to urge Senate President Jeff Atwater to oppose state legislative efforts that would allow offshore oil drilling off Florida’s coast.

LATEST ONLINE ACTIONS
Let us decide! Petition to Governor Charlie Crist, Senate President Jeff Atwater, and House Speaker Larry Cretul, via Civic Concern.
Contact Your Officials About New Drilling Off Florida's Coasts, via Civic Concern.
Ask your state legislators to keep the rigs out, via Save the Manatee Club.
Related action: Don't go drill crazy in the Everglades, via Democracy in Action.
Related action: Keep oil drilling out of climate change legislation, via Oceana.

MORE ONLINE ACTIONS
Write a letter to the editor, via Audubon of Florida.
Write your state legislators, via Audubon of Florida.
Tell Sen. Atwater Not To Allow Oil Drilling In Special Session, via Audubon of Florida.
Sign the petition against oil drilling, via Protect Florida’s Beaches.
Tell Salazar: No drilling off Florida's Coast, via Environment Florida.
Tell new Senator LeMieux to Repower America, via Environment Florida.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OF NOTE
Protect Florida’s Beaches, recently launched coalition website.
Protect Florida’s Beaches on Facebook.
Think, Baby, Think blog via Protect Florida’s Beaches.
Don’t Drill Florida website.
Don’t Drill Florida Facebook page.
Hands Across The Sand website.
Environment Florida offshore drilling page.
Skytruth blog, an excellent source of info.
Not the Answer blog, courtesy Surfrider Foundation.
EnergyFLA.com, online hub of drilling proponents; their Twitter page is here.

MORE GREEN NEWS

Jeff Corwin: We're losing a species every 20 minutes
Video Interview
Mother Nature Network
MNN sits down with wildlife biologist and animal expert Jeff Corwin to talk about how climate change is wiping out animal species.

Cabinet approves land-buying bonds, Keys oversight
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet today approved a resolution issuing $250 million in bonds for buying conservation lands, representing the last money approved by the Legislature for the program.

Releasing two captive manatees stirs controversy in Homossasa Springs
By Barbara Behrendt
St. Petersburg Times
When Amanda is hungry, she rolls onto her back and makes a coy little flipper gesture toward her mouth.

Environmental activists protest FPL's attempt to emit more greenhouse gases at new western plant
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
A small group of environmental activists spoke out against Florida Power & Light's request to emit a relatively tiny amount of additional greenhouse gases at its new western Palm Beach County power plant.

Florida Keys, land-buying on Cabinet agenda
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
The Cabinet could have a somewhat busy agenda today on environmental issues.

Everglades: North Florida is committed
By Joseph Z. Duke
Florida Times-Union
In a September statewide poll, 79 percent of North Florida voters indicated that Everglades restoration was personally important to them.

Manatees arriving for winter
By David Fleshler
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Here come the manatees, and right behind them, here come the police.

Brown pelican soars back
Staff Report
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The brown pelican, as the late Herald-Tribune nature writer Mina Walther once noted, is “a symbol of the inshore seacoast . . . a large, bulky bumbler on foot but marvelous at soaring parallel to the waves, peerless at diving, and nearly always successful in gulping a fish into its pouch.”

FDA delays raw oyster ban, Florida reaction mixed
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today backed off a proposal to ban the sale of raw oysters from Gulf states during summer months by 2011.

DEP meeting follows withdrawal of plastic bag ban report
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Following an uproar last month over a draft proposal to ban plastic shopping bags, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday holds another public workshop on whether to regulate bags.

Florida offers $5,000 to turn Prius hybrids into electric plug-ins
By Angel Streeter
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Anyone looking to convert a Toyota Prius into a plug-in electric vehicle can get $5,000 from the state to cover some of the cost.

Solar energy plant at KSC generates jobs
By Jim Waymer
Florida Today
Kennedy Space Center plans by late next year to start building one of the largest solar power plants of its kind in the world, bringing 1,000 temporary construction jobs and 50 long-term science and engineering jobs.

Consumer advocate, FPL make last argument in rate-hike battle
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Customers of Florida Power & Light deserve a rate decrease, not an increase, because the company's request for a $1.3 billion annual hike is ``a conglomeration of extreme positions and excessive demands,'' Florida's consumer advocate argued in a final brief filed Monday with state regulators.

Sunshine Amid The Clouds
Editorial
Lakeland Ledger
Florida's prospects for producing clean, renewble energy are growing brighter.


An example of plastic bag pollution – reduce, reuse and recycle!

Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

"it's all connected"

Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 11-13-09

FEATURED STORIES

Plan re-emerges to shift water resources across Florida
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
Take action now: Sign on to the letter to the legislature via Progress Florida
Six years ago, Florida's business leaders came up with a plan to create a state water commission that could route water from sleepy North Florida to supply the booming development in South Florida.

Florida Waterways Under Scrutiny by EPA (includes audio)
By Concetta DeLuco
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Related St. Petersburg Times column: Hold polluters accountable for what they do to Florida waters
In efforts to protect Florida’s surface waterways, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection have joined forces and are making efforts to adopt stricter state regulations.

Utilities fight water rules
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post via Miami Herald
Related editorial: Water conservation a must in Florida
A deal to put most of South Florida under permanent, three-day-a-week water restrictions -- among the loosest in the state -- has begun to unravel at the 11th hour amid utilities' demands that they not be forced to reduce water use.

Property rights and sea level rise
By Gimleteye
Eye on Miami
Florida is a unique lens through which to view the dilemma of delay and inadequate response by government to the challenges of global warming.

Wet season not quite rainy enough in Southwest Florida
By Kevin Lollar
Ft. Myers News-Press
Southwest Florida had another dry wet season this year, which is good for some things and not so good for others.

Brown pelicans no longer listed species
By Tom Palmer
Lakeland Ledger
Brown pelicans, whose population declined because of DDT contamination decades ago, have been removed from the endangered species list because of their dramatic recovery.

Florida bristle fern, bonneted bat may be shielded
The Associated Press
Miami Herald
A bat and a fern found only in Florida may be added to the federal list of endangered and threatened species.

Everglades group closes office
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
A landmark environmental group founded by Everglades icon Marjory Stoneman Douglas is closing its Miami office, citing declining membership and donations.

Keep industry out of old jetport site
By Jack E. Davis
Miami Herald
It's like an old wound that some hack doctor keeps digging at.


Endangered wood stork in Fred George Basin, Leon County.

THE BIG OIL ROUNDUP

A drill, a spill, a tragedy
By Waldo Proffitt
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Earlier this week the Herald-Tribune published a letter from reader Rob West of Osprey who wrote, "If state-of-the-art leaking oil rigs burning off the coast of Australia do not become screaming headlines all over Florida, I just plain give up."

Atwater in no hurry on drilling
By Jim Ash
Tallahassee Democrat
Senate President Jeff Atwater hinted Monday that he might not consider opening up Florida waters to offshore drilling in the next legislative session, his last before term limits force him to step down.

Offshore drilling claims by oil and gas industry: lies and half-truths?
By Judson Parker
Tallahassee Environmental News Examiner
Related: Offshore drilling debate heats up in Florida
Related: Is China behind the offshore drilling push in Florida?
The debate about whether or not the Florida state legislature should lift the nearly three decade old offshore oil exploration and drilling moratorium has been heating up lately, and has been fueled by a series of symposiums organized by both the media and the industry over the past few weeks.

Senator Nelson says drilling bad for Florida economy
By Kerry Kavanaugh
ABC Action News Tampa Bay
Senator Bill Nelson says drilling off the coast of Tampa Bay will hurt the state's tourism industry.

Bringing jobs to Florida?

Bill Nelson advises Tampa Chamber of Commerce to fight offshore drilling
By Mitch Perry
Creative Loafing Tampa
Florida U.S. Senator Bill Nelson said today that the Tampa Bay area has taken a big leap in attempting to get high-speed rail to the region, and he placed great hopes on the Florida Legislature conducting a special session on rail issues next month to show Washington that it means business about a a $2.5 billion federal stimulus request for high speed rail.

Nelson says Gulf drilling could curb military training
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico could harm Florida's economy by interfering with military training and testing in the Gulf and cutting activity at Florida bases, Sen. Bill Nelson told the Tampa Chamber of Commerce on Monday.

Some locals lining up against drilling
By John Kennedy
News Service of Florida
Panhandle communities and Gulf Coast chambers of commerce are among the unlikely allies environmentalists and Democratic opponents of offshore oil exploration are gaining as they push to block House efforts to lift the state's 20-year-old drilling ban.

Buchanan remains a no on drilling
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Do not count Rep. Vern Buchanan among the politicians in Florida easing their opposition to oil drilling off the coast.

Senate to go slow on drilling
By Brent Batten
Naples News
The effort to bring oil exploration as close as three miles to Florida’s beaches has encountered a speed bump.

Senate president calls for study of "complicated" drilling issue
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Senate President Jeff Atwater today announced that Senate committee staff would conduct a detailed and comprehensive review of the implications of offshore drilling with no timeline for completion.

Review of Florida oil drilling is the right thing to do
By David Plazas
Ft. Myers News-Press
Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater showed great foresight by calling for a review of several considerations before opening Gulf waters to oil drilling, thus, tempering the rush to extract fossil fuels in state waters.

Not so fast on drilling, Atwater says
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
State Senate President Jeff Atwater is slowing down the oil rush in Tallahassee by insisting on gathering facts before putting the state's beaches and economic health at risk.


Editorial cartoon by Andy Marlette, Pensacola News Journal.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Click the picture above to urge Senate President Jeff Atwater to oppose state legislative efforts that would allow offshore oil drilling off Florida’s coast.

LATEST ONLINE ACTIONS
Let us decide! Petition to Governor Charlie Crist, Senate President Jeff Atwater, and House Speaker Larry Cretul, via Civic Concern.
Contact Your Officials About New Drilling Off Florida's Coasts, via Civic Concern.
Ask your state legislators to keep the rigs out, via Save the Manatee Club.
Related action: Don't go drill crazy in the Everglades, via Democracy in Action.
Related action: Keep oil drilling out of climate change legislation, via Oceana.

MORE ONLINE ACTIONS
Write a letter to the editor, via Audubon of Florida.
Write your state legislators, via Audubon of Florida.
Tell Sen. Atwater Not To Allow Oil Drilling In Special Session, via Audubon of Florida.
Sign the petition against oil drilling, via Protect Florida’s Beaches.
Tell Salazar: No drilling off Florida's Coast, via Environment Florida.
Tell new Senator LeMieux to Repower America, via Environment Florida.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OF NOTE
Protect Florida’s Beaches, recently launched coalition website.
Protect Florida’s Beaches on Facebook.
Think, Baby, Think blog via Protect Florida’s Beaches.
Don’t Drill Florida website.
Don’t Drill Florida Facebook page.
Hands Across The Sand website.
Environment Florida offshore drilling page.
Skytruth blog, an excellent source of info.
Not the Answer blog, courtesy Surfrider Foundation.
EnergyFLA.com, online hub of drilling proponents; their Twitter page is here.

MORE GREEN NEWS

PSC wants more time to work on conservation goals
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Signaling another shift in direction at the Public Service Commission, state utility regulators ordered their staff Tuesday to come up with "more robust" energy conservation goals that reward customers for using less energy.

Bringing the Developing World to America
By Glen Gardner
Public News Service Florida
They've traveled thousands of miles to carry the message to the Southeast and Midwest this week that what we do - and don't do - in places like Florida to reduce carbon pollution linked to climate change has consequences for people on the other side of the world.

Two Florida DEP heads join opposition to EPA standards
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Opponents of federal water quality standards for nutrients in Florida waterways raised their level of opposition today, unveiling a Web site and two former state environmental chiefs who are on their side.

Florida (gone?) Forever
Editorial
Miami Herald
Look out, Florida lawmakers, four former governors are conducting a full-court press to convince you to resume funding the state's farsighted land-conservation program, Florida Forever.


The Brown Pelican has soared off the endangered list.

Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

"it's all connected"

Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 11-6-09

FEATURED STORIES

Plan re-emerges to shift water resources across Florida
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
Take action now: Sign on to the letter to the legislature via Progress Florida
Six years ago, Florida's business leaders came up with a plan to create a state water commission that could route water from sleepy North Florida to supply the booming development in South Florida.

Miami-Dade commissioners consider cashing in on old Glades jetport
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Related editorial: Don't go drill crazy in the Everglades
Take action now: Sign the petition via Democracy in Action
Faced with a looming half-billion-dollar deficit from the expansion of Miami International Airport, the Miami-Dade Aviation Department wants to cash in on an Everglades jetport it was forced to abandon decades ago.

Bob Graham, Jeb Bush join campaign to restore Florida land-buying funds
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Related: Press release from Florida Forever Coalition
With shrinking revenues and widening deficits, state lawmakers will be sharpening their budget axes when the Legislature meets in March.

Endangered status sought for loggerhead sea turtles
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
Loggerhead sea turtles are in a ``dire state,'' with a 40 percent decline in the number of nests counted over the past decade, experts say.

Next Halloween without Bats in FL? (includes audio)
By Gina Presson
Public News Service Florida
Related: Florida Bat Conservancy website
Halloween with its jack-o'-lanterns, black cats and bats has come and gone, but experts warn many bats may be gone for good.


The critically endangered Florida panther faces a new threat: drilling for oil within their limited remaining habitat. Take action now via the link above.

THE BIG OIL ROUNDUP

Debunking the Drilling Propaganda: The Top Five Myths About Gulf Oil Drilling
Civic Concern
Note: also see Take Action section below.
Let's take a look at the top five claims the "Drill Baby Drill" folks have been perpetuating in the media and legislature and see how they stand up to scrutiny.

Offshore fictions: Claims of oil riches for Florida warrant skeptical review
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Advocates of drilling for oil in Florida's coastal waters make two claims that have caught the attention of lawmakers and heightened momentum to end the ban on drilling offshore.

Huge Australian Oil Spill Raises Questions (includes video)
CBS News
Related ABC News story: Oil leak impact may last 7 years
An oil spill disaster that could rival the impact of the Exxon Valdez is playing out tonight off the coast of Australia.

Ten weeks, and counting
Editorial
Pensacola News Journal
There was more bad news for proponents of offshore drilling near the Florida coast this weekend.


The state of the art West Atlas oil rig smoldering in the Timor Sea following catastrophic spill covering an estimated 9,000 miles of ocean.

Issues Surrounding Drilling Off Florida's Coast
By John Rogers
WCTV CBS News Tallahassee
There are many questions surrounding this topic and experts in the subject warn, it's something we should not rush into.

Florida Forum: Energy Exploration
Don’t Drill Florida
Last night was the FSU/GANNETT Florida Forum on nearshore oil drilling featuring panels of both drilling proponents and opponents. Also included outside the panels were Rep. Dean Cannon(R) and Sen. Mike Haridopolos (R). The forum was billed as an evening discussion of the facts associated with nearshore drilling. Rep. Cannon and Sen. Haridopolos were treated as if they were neutral in the debate and were present to learn more about the issue, but this could not be farther from the truth.

Off-shore drilling pros, cons explored
By Catherine Dolinski
Tampa Tribune
Only one in a hundred offshore drilling leases may produce oil, and there's no guarantee that near-shore drilling will bring big bucks to Florida.

To drill or not to drill. . . is that really the question?
By Paul Flemming
Ft. Myers News-Press
It's a passionate debate, one that's been going on in Florida for decades with an environmentalist ebb and an oil flow.

Crist says he and LeMieux discussed drilling
By Lloyd Dunkelberger and Gary Fineout
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
While U.S. Sen. George LeMieux isn't talking about his recent stint in the private sector, his former boss talked a little bit about it last week.

Opinions Split On Offshore Oil Drilling
Staff Report
Central Florida News 13
Opinions on drilling for oil off Florida’s coast are split, according to an exclusive poll conducted by News 13’s Bright House Networks affiliate, Bay News 9, along with the St. Petersburg Times and the Miami Herald.

Thrasher, Negron Split on Offshore Drilling
By News Service of Florida
Jacksonville Observer
With the fate of offshore drilling expected to be determined in the Florida Senate next session, the chamber’s newest members are split on whether it makes sense to explore for oil and gas in state waters off Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Energy Expert Ballentine: Promise of Florida’s Offshore Oil is Exaggerated
Staff Report
HeatingOil.com
For years, the US oil industry has touted domestic offshore drilling as a pivotal component of any solution to this country’s energy issues.

USF program to track oil spills falters
By Catherine Dolinski
Tampa Tribune
For years, Texas has relied on scientists and technology at Texas A&M University to track oil spills, forecast where they are headed and minimize the damage they cause.

FSU acts as 'broker' for drilling symposium
By David Cartes
Tallahassee Democrat
The energy needs of the United States and the financial condition of the state of Florida have prompted a renewed consideration of oil and gas activity off the Florida coast.

Judah gets fired up over offshore drilling
By Betty Parker
Ft. Myers News-Press
Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah was fired up for his appearance at BUPAC (Businesspeople United for Political Action Committee) this week.

Offshore Oil Drilling, Damage
By Amanda Casares
Lakeland Ledger
Since the offshore-drilling debate has been opened again, I must voice my opinion on the subject.

Don't let oil drilling ruin Florida
Letters to the editor
St. Petersburg Times
It was with a sinking sense of dread that I read your article on the polls showing voters favoring offshore oil drilling.

Drilling for answers
Editorial
Panama City News Herald
The ongoing debate about whether to allow drilling for oil off Florida’s coast is a classic example of assessing risk vs. reward.


Welcome to, er, beautiful and sunny Florida?

TAKE ACTION NOW

Click the picture above to urge Senate President Jeff Atwater to oppose state legislative efforts that would allow offshore oil drilling off Florida’s coast.

LATEST ONLINE ACTIONS
Let us decide! Petition to Governor Charlie Crist, Senate President Jeff Atwater, and House Speaker Larry Cretul, via Civic Concern.
Contact Your Officials About New Drilling Off Florida's Coasts, via Civic Concern.
Ask your state legislators to keep the rigs out, via Save the Manatee Club.

MORE ONLINE ACTIONS
Write a letter to the editor, via Audubon of Florida.
Write your state legislators, via Audubon of Florida.
Tell Sen. Atwater Not To Allow Oil Drilling In Special Session, via Audubon of Florida.
Sign the petition against oil drilling, via Protect Florida’s Beaches.
Tell Salazar: No drilling off Florida's Coast, via Environment Florida.
Tell new Senator LeMieux to Repower America, via Environment Florida.
Tell Your Senator No More Offshore Drilling, via Oceana.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OF NOTE
Protect Florida’s Beaches, recently launched coalition website.
Protect Florida’s Beaches on Facebook.
Think, Baby, Think blog via Protect Florida’s Beaches.
Don’t Drill Florida website.
Don’t Drill Florida Facebook page.
Hands Across The Sand website.
Environment Florida offshore drilling page.
Skytruth blog, an excellent source of info.
Not the Answer blog, courtesy Surfrider Foundation.
EnergyFLA.com, online hub of drilling proponents; their Twitter page is here.

MORE GREEN NEWS

South Florida hunt for Burmese pythons ends
The Associated Press
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
A pilot program aimed at helping eradicate giant, nonnative Burmese pythons from South Florida has ended with 37 of the invasive constrictors being killed, wildlife officials said today.

Another species of python is raising concern in region
By Kate Spinner
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
If thousands of Burmese pythons slithering through the Everglades are not worrisome enough, wildlife experts are now warning of another invasive reptile found as close as east Sarasota.

House members vent against EPA water standards
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Members of a Florida House panel complained today about the potential cost of water quality standards that could be proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in January, agreeing with industry representatives who said businesses and households will be affected.

Time Magazine writer discusses Everglades pollution, restoration
By Curt Devine
Gainesville Sun
"This is the story of America's last frontier," said Michael Grunwald, senior correspondent of Time Magazine.

Effects of "Dead Zone" on Gulf shrimping studied
By Florida State University and FloridaEnvironments.com
FloridaEnvironments.com
A team of researchers from Florida State University, Duke University and the National Marine Fisheries Service will study the environmental and economic impacts of the vast “dead zone” in the northern Gulf of Mexico on shrimping in the region.

Florida will pay steep price for policies on development
By Ron Littlepage
Florida Times-Union
With 300,000 homes and condos sitting vacant, and with population growth nil, government and business leaders are pushing ways to make it easier to build more homes and condos.

Florida land-buying program absorbs more revenue
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
With the downturn in the state's economy, Florida's conservation land-buying program is sucking up an increasingly larger share of tax revenue from real estate transactions, a state finance official told House members today.

Public Input Sought on St. Marks Refuge Expansion
Wakulla.com
In October 2009, the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge received approval to request public input on a proposal to add an additional 35, 295 acres to the refuge.

LeMieux's time to act
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Warnings about how climate change could threaten the security of the U.S. and nations throughout the world will be sounded today at a conference at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

Regional summit highlighted problems associated with climate change
Editorial
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The session had all the jargon that you'd expect at a "green" convention.

Sunshine amid the clouds
Editorial
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
As the days grow shorter, Florida's prospects for producing clean, renewable energy grow brighter.

PSC must set meaningful efficiency standards
Editorial
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The Public Service Commission can show its "new management" mettle by establishing new energy efficiency standards.


A Seminole bat ‘hanging out’.

Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

"it's all connected"