Crist clarifies offshore drilling position

Opening his second annual summit on climate change in Miami today, Gov. Charlie Crist could not ignore the questions about last week's change in position about offshore drilling.

So Crist tried to clarify under what circumstances he would support offshore drilling. He told the crowd that the key is "far enough, safe enough and clean enough."

To read more click here.

--David C. Adams

Comments

Can I have another "Flip" with my Flip-Flop?

We were warned by the Dems that this guy was a 'waffler'.

They hit that nail on the head!

Wow, I thought the GOP was going to beat up Obama on the drilling issue. Looks like they're in full retreat to me.

that's fine - it is safe, it is clean, and nobody is talking about drilling a mile off the beaches - this is deep gulf drilling about 100-125mi out

--- He told the crowd that the key is "far enough, safe enough and clean enough."

Chuckism Translation: "That's the best I could do with the polling info provided. Give me a break; it's not my fault I have to wait so long for my opinion!"

I don't get it - can we locate the refineries 100-125 miles out in the Gulf also? Charlie please comment on the actual situation. No oil w/o refineries on our coastline. See Texas City, Baytown, Louisiana. Republicans counting on the ignorance of voters as always (See Jeb, FCAT, vouchers)

[It's your carbon footprint, y'all.]

Your 2007 Carbon Footprint
By Steve Boler
We often hear of how we must reduce our carbon footprint. We are told as Americans, that CO2 is a pollutant and that we release upwards of 20 tons of carbon dioxide per person per year into the atmosphere. This sounds incredible and evokes images of black soot and dirt clogging the air.

Most of us have seen the advertisement for the environmental movie with a big muddy boot print, representing our carbon footprint, stomped into the planet. But CO2 is not black or dirty or muddy, it is not even visible, nor can one smell it nor taste it. Because we exhale CO2, a crowded university lecture hall may have 10 times more CO2 than average atmospheric concentrations.

While CO2 is not poisonous to animals, it is a necessary airborne fertilizer for plant life. Reducing CO2 to slightly less than half of current concentrations would kill off all green plant life. As concentrations increase, so do plant growth rates and harvests, and many greenhouses and conservatories add CO2 to the air to quickly grow healthy and productive plants. Yet, we are told this trace gas is pollution. We are told that CO2 causes global warming that far exceeds natural variation. We are told, as a result, that we must be concerned about, be aware of and reduce our carbon footprint. There is much scientific data showing CO2 has very little to do with any planetary warming let alone the catastrophic kind.

In fact, despite recent increases in CO2, both NASA and the UN's IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) have recently conceded that the earth has entered a natural cooling phase that will last decades. However if you are concerned about the size of your footprint read on:

How big is your is your footprint in relation to the atmosphere? Grab a ruler, and let's go for a walk. Make each step about one meter long, so walk as though you are a football referee. As we are walking we will both count each step and do some math. How much CO2 is in the atmosphere? Current estimates put it at 350 -380 parts per million. For ease of computation, we will round it up to the nearest 100, or 400 parts per million. Now let's use that old fashioned math and reduce that down. 400 parts per million is the same as 40 parts per 100,000 and can be reduced further to 4 parts per 10,000. When we have finished taking 10,000 steps, stop and turn around. You have just walked 10,000 meters or 10K, which runners know is roughly 6 miles. At average walking speed this takes about 2 hours. (If you do not want to take the walk, get in your car, and drive 6 miles, just to see how far it is.) Once there, look back at where you started. Remember that all the CO2 in the atmosphere is 4 parts per 10,000. Take 4 steps back towards your starting point. Those four steps out of 6 miles represent the entire amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Global warmists determine that the carbon dioxide caused from man as the amount we have today over what existed before the Industrial Revolution. That is debatable, with some scientists estimating that man is only responsible for 15% of that amount, but for our demonstration purposes we will concede to the alarmists that all the additional CO2 came from Man.

One step out of the 6 miles represents man's carbon footprint from the 1880s until today. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) the entire CO2 increase for the earth in 2007, was 2.4 parts per million.

Once again we will assume it is all man made and, furthermore, we will round up to 2.5. The 2007 world wide carbon footprint of 2.5 parts per million translates in our walk to two and one half centimeters, or about 1 inch out of 6 miles. Some environmentalists suggest that the three hundred million people in the United States are responsible for as much as one fifth of all CO2 released in a year.

Because it is easier to find ¼ inch on our ruler, let us say that the U.S. population is responsible for one quarter of all CO2 released in the world last year. Look at the ¼ of an inch on your ruler that represents the carbon footprint of the entire U.S.. Now look back over the six miles you walked that represents the entire atmosphere.

Next, all you need to do to find your carbon footprint is divide that ¼ inch by 300,000,000.

I know, let's just buy the oil companies! Problem solved.

There are thousands of fisherman that come to florida souly to fish off our coasts because of the beauty of our oceans and the great fishing that there is around here. The second an oil rig goes up and distroys our scenery the second there is 1 spill is the day we loose out on all those tourist coming down here for fishing. and all for what? for 30 cents off a gallon of fuel if that? and when will the oil be able to actually be used? 5-10 years from now? All it does is enables the oil companies to keep us around with our addiction to oil. Us as americans need to go cold turky on oil and say we want change!

Obama'08

the earth's climate has been changing for 4 billion years - how in the world can so many idiots fall for the prospect that 100years of human industry is affecting the climate

the climate is gonna change cooler or warmer no matter what mankind has done, is doing, or will do

but in the meantime we waste precious time and resources having phony conferences and getting everybody worried about the sky falling when there is enough in life to worry about without having to fear our "carbon footprint"

1:46-

You are obviously not one of those "scientific" types, are you?

Actually it has been shown that fisheries are better around oil rigs because the water temperature becomes more stable and it provides a habitat like an artificial reef.

Not even during Katrina and Rita were there any spills, because the technology available today with regard to drilling allows those systems to break away and cap with absolutely no spillage.

Please do some research before you begin voting this November.

imforituntilimagainstituntilimforit again........

is this guy TRYING to be an a-hole or is just a natural repiglicn proclivity...like drunkenss, pederasty and lying?

1:56 - you forgot about the pipeline leaks....add it to your research list.

[moderate]

imforituntilimagainstituntilimforit again........

is this guy TRYING to be an a-hole or is just a natural repiglicn proclivity...like drunkenss, pederasty and lying?

translation:

imforituntilimagainstituntilimforit again........

is this guy TRYING to be an a-hole or is just a natural Democrat proclivity...like Ted Kennedy, Barney Frank and Bill Clinton?

pipeline leaks are a non-issue, because they are miniscule and corrected immediately.

The biggest threat of a "leak" comes in transport...for those of you educated in government schools, that means wherever oil is brought to port.

This, of course, could happen anywhere.

That is why you see tar on the beaches of Ft Lauderdale, etc. There are no oil rigs along these beaches, but the tankers travel those seas.

So drilling is not the problem, and the "leaks" that may come from pipelines are negligible.

Shore up the tankers and start drilling now. The prosperity of the US depends on it.

2:15 -

Don't forget John "iwasforitbeforeiwasagainstit" Kerry!

Finally found some real info on this thing. The info below is from almost 3 decades of studying and updating oil spillage rates. There are 4 basic sources of spills:

tankers,
barges,
platforms, and
pipelines

It seems most spills happen with barges. Platform and pipeline spills are lower than the others and decreasing at a better rate.

Figures 9 and 10 on pages 43 and 44 show side-by-side comparisons.

If we can control our own destiny AND our spillage rates are better domestically, doesn't it make sense to take care of ourselves?

We should develop alternative sources (solar, wind, wave, hydrogen, and etc.), but, petroleum will be part of our lives for generations to come.

http://www.mms.gov/eppd/sciences/osmp/pdfs/AndersonAndLaBelle/AndersonAndLaBelle2000.pdf

Ole Charlie will never be the VP so he can stop all of his manuvering, They found out about your "alternative" lifestyle.
Sorry Charlie

[Big Al, Tampa, Florida]

I would love to be able to shed my reliance on oil and drive a hybrid or hydrogen powered automobile, but alas, the auto manufacturers have seen the light at the end of the tunnel and increased the price of these cars substantialy. I simply cannot afford to take on another 3 to 4 years of new car payments and insurance just to be more green. The sad part is, I cannot even give away my big SUV, but the funny part is, neither can the car dealerships.

[Big Al, Tampa, Florida]

I would love to be able to shed my reliance on oil and drive a hybrid or hydrogen powered automobile, but alas, the auto manufacturers have seen the light at the end of the tunnel and increased the price of these cars substantialy. I simply cannot afford to take on another 3 to 4 years of new car payments and insurance just to be more green. The sad part is, I cannot even give away my big SUV, but the funny part is, neither can the car dealerships.

[Big Al, Tampa, Florida]

I would love to be able to shed my reliance on oil and drive a hybrid or hydrogen powered automobile, but alas, the auto manufacturers have seen the light at the end of the tunnel and increased the price of these cars substantialy. I simply cannot afford to take on another 3 to 4 years of new car payments and insurance just to be more green. The sad part is, I cannot even give away my big SUV, but the funny part is, neither can the car dealerships.

Gov Crist & John McCain has the correct position on the energy issue.

Polling shows Floridians & Americans support their position in opening more drilling & letting states decide.
The democrats and Obama are not listening to the people.

The United States of America needs an energy plan that includes: opening up more safe drilling, more safe nuclear energy, more solar, more wind power + more conservation in energy use. We must be less dependent on foreign oil and more dependent on our own natural resources.

Obama has no realistic plan, McCain does. Americans cannot afford $5/gal. oil.

MY VOTE WILL BE FOR MCCAIN IN NOVEMBER.

[Rachel Robinson]

Please - Remember the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska - 20 years have passed by now and all of the affected fishes and land animals still have not rebounded after that horrible disaster - let us Not Spoil Our Beautiful Florida Coastlines - for Oil - In a few more years, we'll have solar power throughout the Sunshine State anyway!

[Chris in FL]

I remember the Valdez spill. I just saw on the news that our own Government slashed Exxon's fine of 2.5 billion again to a mere 500k. And still I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone can deny that Big Oil controls our Government? The United States Government is in grave debt, now more than ever they really need 2.5 billion dollars and they just let it go????????????????

And for all of you morons who are going to say they did so to save us the cost that would have passed on to pumps, THE DUMBEST PEOPLE OF PINELLAS.

No, the cost would not have been passed to consumers because Exxon is not the only station around. Our Government is dirty, and that will never change as long as we still 'need oil.'

[Chris in FL]

Comment 1:56
"Not even during Katrina and Rita were there any spills. . ." -1:56

[Response] "Hurricane Katrina ripped into Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005, destroying 115 oil platforms, significantly damaging 52 more and setting adrift 19. More than 7-million gallons of petroleum products spilled, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. By comparison, in 1989 the Exxon Valdez spilled 11-million gallons in Alaska's Prince William Sound.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/article634009.ece

"Please do some research before you begin voting this November." -1:56

Don't be a hypocrite and criticize others fro not doing their research when you yourself and others like you have not even done your homework. If you don't have the facts, shut your mouths.

Did you hear Charlie has changed his position on drilling? He's marrying a woman.

[Matt]

Why open up more areas for drilling when the oil co's are only drilling on about 2% of the areas already leased to them? No dessert until you finish your dinner...