Crist likes McCain's drilling plan

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist tells Buzz that he loves Sen. John McCain's idea to lift the federal moratorium on off-shore drilling and let individual states decide whether to allow oil and gas exploration. He also said he wouldn't rule out letting Florida opt to drill off-shore.

"Florida has one of the most pristine environments on the planet, and I'm committed to protecting it," Crist told the St. Petersburg Times this evening. "But we also need to be pragmatic. We need to protect Florida and America's economy, and I look forward to the discussion."

Whether he'd support a decision by the Florida Legislature to drill depends on "how far (from shore), how safe, how protective of our environment it would be – there’s many contingencies that would have to go into it," he said.

"It’s the last thing in the world I’d like to do, but I also understand what people are paying at the pump, and I understand the drag it is on our economy," Crist said. "Something has to be done in a responsible, pragmatic way."

Since 1982, a congressional moratorium renewed each year has closed most of the U.S. coastline to drilling, with the exception of waters off Alaska and in the western and central Gulf of Mexico. A presidential moratorium enacted by George H.W. Bush in 1990 also prohibits drilling.

The federal Minerals Management Service estimates that 86-billion barrels of oil and 430 cubic feet of natural gas lie in undiscovered reserves off the U.S. coast, though the agency could not say how much of it is now off-limits.

McCain on Tuesday will outline a plan for lifting the moratoria as part of a broader energy policy that also focuses on finding renewable and alternative energy sources.

Comments

"Something has to be done in a responsible, pragmatic way."

Chuckism Translation: "I havn't polled for my opinion yet."

Sanity is starting to make its way into the conversation

crist likes mccain's drilling plan? what have those two been up to?

Sir, may I please, please PLEASE be your Veep nominee?

Chucky Cheesecake is a booger farmer. He can't pick his friends or his nose but he can pick his friends nose.

VP? Crist is a second rate manager at best.

What's the difference between a Cowboy and a Maverick?...and where does chucky cheesecake fit in?

As soon as the first poll comes out reiterating that Floridians don't want drilling off our "pristine" coast, he'll drop that idea like a rock.

[Jason Straight]

you GOP guys need to push the drilling issue statewide for McCain and Chas Crist..Great plank fir the 2010 Gov and senate race..Jim Davis had an empty chair..Your state and national panderers have empty brains..This position will bring Florida into the Obama /Gelber camp..

[laural]

um... what about the Congressional ban that was passed in late 2006? It doesnt expire till 2022? The President signed it into law. everyone seems to forget there is a hodgpodge of bans, it isnt as simple as just the annual one.

[Arlington & Clarendon Condos -- J]

50 miles off the coast doesn't hurt anybody. You can't even see that far probably and you reap some big $$$$ for your state simultaneously. What a no brainer. Surely Floridians are informed enough to be pro-drilling. It doesn't impact your beaches at all. Hopefully the control freaks will begin to lose their stranglehold on oil supplies and gas prices....

[Robert]

Democrats are playing 2 hands as usual...want to get off foreign oil, but won't drill for it. Folks, you won't find alternatives for at least another 10 to 20 years at best. That's the rate for which energy sources are developed. There's so many possibilities that have been found to be impractical on a national economic level. And that's the funny part...Democrats want a national solution, and sadly, only oil can support such a large playing field. If we'd break up into localities with our own unique energy and laws governing them, it would speed alternatives up. But big government Democrats want to rule everything.

[Thomas]

Good grief is our governor flip-flopping all over the place. Well, I guess that's what happens when you're kissing a.s.s. hoping to land the VP gig.

According to the Energy Information Administration in April of 2007, “Mean estimates from the Minerals Management Service indicate that technically recoverable resources currently off limits in the lower 48 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) total 18 billion barrels of crude oil.” At current consumption rates, opening up all currently unavailable OCS areas would still only provide the country with enough petroleum to last just over two years.

Opening up ANWR and OCS to drilling does essentially nothing to decrease U.S. dependence on foreign oil. It simply prolongs the inevitable. As Tyler Slocum, research director for Public Citizen’s energy program, states, “We cannot produce our way to energy independence. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to just continue to tap into increasingly sensitive habitats to fuel our continuing energy needs. We ought to take a look at our consumption”

[ChrisNYC]

The Brits drill the North Sea, and the US procures from US-sponsored operation off the coasts of Nigeria, Indonesia, Brazil....so please tell me how it makes sense to have this NIMBY attitude and legislation???

I'm all ears.

We drill the GOM & Alaska. Why not other areas too?

We can't drill our way out of an oil shortage from this date on. The present reality will not change--we have to get off our dependence on oil.

When clots of black-blue petroleum gelatine float up on Pinellas beaches as I've seen them do in La. then the price you personally pay for allowing drilling off our shores will register: lost tourism, economic downturn due to the destruction the tourist industry, lost tax revenue, lost home values.

When is the last time you took a vacation on Louisiana's oil coast?

Add to this former Gov. Claude Kirk's idea that an oil refinery be built in the area and we'll have the tourist appeal of Gary, Indiana.

[Terry Mead]

Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina and Rita knocked over 117 production platforms with nearly 1000 wells on them. There were no oil spills. How much better can the safety systems designed into these platform work before Florida gets their head out of the beach sand and starts drilling.

[ricardo maxwell]

ALL the Floridians I know WANT drilling and they want it NOW! Crist is a liberal. Oust him quickly and get another conservative in office.
Ricardo NE Florida

[Brad]

According to what I hear from Floridians in interviews, they'd rather risk (albeit is ridiculously minut[sp?] risk) an oil spill than slowly crush their economy with high gas prices while other countries take up all the offshore leases. McCain should go even further than eradicating this ban in my opinion, but heck, it's a good start.

[mikeVA]

Republicans have become the party of gimmicks. Now Crist is on the double talk express - environmentalism and drilling. Drilling does little to nothing to change the fact that a Republican lead government had no solid energy and fiscal policy. Now, Americans are paying the hidden costs.

[Andrew]

Oh great. Only 430 cubic feet of gas huh?

That's worth $5.16 on the open market. I think they mean Tcf (Trillion cubic feet)

to the gutless lying poster that would even post a phony name:
Please tell us that without any industry the Louisiana coast would be exactly like Florida's. Of course not. It is the Mississippi Delta and swamp land.
There will be no oil washing up on Florida beaches just like there is no oil washing up on Louisiana's well known and popular pristine beaches from any Gulf oil drilling rigs, even after numerous hurricanes!!! Any crud in the waters offshore in LA comes from industry and ship traffic and I'm willing to bet that it is far far less today than ever before.
The left is pedaling hard to try to stop America from defeating the oil driven terrorists. I don't think the America-hating left can win this one.

[Brad]

This isn't a Republican or Democrat problem. Since the Democrat lead congress took over gas prices have almost doubled. I'd also like to point out that the decision by congress to "sue" OPEC made prices soar to amazing heights in just a day. When you mess with big companies by constantly investigating them (and finding out that they aren't doing anything wrong) and by putting huge restrictive taxes on them, the only people hurt are the consumers who bear the cost. Blame Big Government, not the Dems or the Repubs.

[Joey]

I used to like Crist but now I see he is just another politician who only cares about his own politcial ambitions. What a shame.

Cristi suggested there should be a windfall profits tax imposed on oil companies....looks like he has all his bases covered.

[Yehudi zenny]

DILL HERE DRILL NOW PAY LESS or PAY AL GORE OBAMA OIL TAX $8

[Tiberius]

Andrew, I was wondering myself what good 430 cubic feet would do. I have a tank on my barbecue grill that holds more than that.

On to the issue, Maybe we can just send the navy out to take over the rigs that China and Cuba have. We now how environmental safe they are

http://www.monroerising.com

[Jesse F]

To Ricardo Maxwell, Crist may have some liberal tendencies but Jeb Bush (and many other prominent Florida republicans) also were opposed to coastal drilling. Get your facts straight.

However, I will say that I am a liberal-leaning moderate and a Floridian and I have been torn on how I feel about coastal drilling for years now. While I am opposed to it for the environmental and aesthetic reasons, I also realize that maybe it's time for America to stop being such elitists (i.e. asking other countries to build oil rigs in on their land and off of their coastlines but then saying we won't do so b/c it may ruin the scenery). At the end of the day, it won't do a thing to lower the price of gas for at least another 2-3 years so it's barely even a stopgap.

[westfsu]

Having worked in the Oil Fields for 20 years, and being a Native of FL I say we should have been Drilling 20 years ago..Put the ban at 20 miles off shore and Drill, Drill in An war,build more Nuclear power plants ,and Research Alteratives... We have to use every available tool at our disposal..

Crist is doing a jig right now - this story just got him a top-link on Drudge. Too bad Drudge doesn't also link to the OC Register article.

Is there already drilling off the coast of Florida?

It's called the Gulf of Mexico last I heard.

[Joe Johnston]

Just take a look at how the Washington Post distorts Gov. Crist's statements. Its amazing how reporters when they want their view made known to what great lengths they will go in order to ensure it.

"The projections in the OCS access case indicate that access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030."

snip

"Because oil prices are determined on the international market, however, any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant. "

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/otheranalysis/ongr.html

BTW, the "drill in the Gulf" rubes might want to check out demand estimates for 2030. Drilling isn't the solution.

[Sherina Gallagher]

Gov. Crist is merely stating that he is open to discussions and will weight the risks involved with any proposal to drill of Florida shores. I do not see this as a flip-flop. I see a politician having an open mind.

The option to drill off-shore should be the decision of each individual state. On this point, Senator McCain is absolutely right.

[Paul C]

China is drilling for oil right now, right off of the coast of Florida. Is that ok with you folks? We can't get our own oil because of the wack jobs in control, but China has no problem drilling in our back yard!

Wake up and smell the Lo-Main!

[Homeboy33]

Why am I not at all surprised that Crist is in favor of a drilling plan? He swings that way, you know. He'll amend the plan to request that the guys doing the drilling wear speedos when they drill.

[traver]

I can't wait to fish off the oil rigs off the coast of Florida. They can't build them fast enough!

[DC]

Finally! McCain has finally figured out he has a club to whip Barry's (Obama's) butt with.

Let the fringe on the left bark. The majotity of people in this country realizes they would rather drill than pay $5-$10 for a gallon of fuel.

If the left wing nuts want to "save the planet" then let them quit using any fossil fuels or anything that uses fossil fuels in its manufacture. If they do they will be easy to spot. They will be naked and starving.

I desperately need the oil and gas royalties to expand my big government programs while still being able to lie that I'm an anti-tax conservative.

[Mel Bernstein]

Is there a risk from U.S. companies doing offshore drilling? Sure. But in all the years they've been doing it, there have been a total of 2 spills - and the last one was over 35 years ago. I guess they've learned a lot since then.

The first was the infamous Santa Barbara oil spill from rigs only 3 miles offshore. Environmental wackos said that the beach would be ruined for 100 years. Two years later there wasn't any eveidence that it ever happened. The second was a few years later offshore Texas, and it had minimal impact.

Where are the problems? From foreign countries, and from tankers. Mexico had some blowouts that did more damage to Texas beaches than anything we ever came close to doing. And then there was the Exxon Valdez. Many tankers clean their holds and put out more junk than any offshore rig, even in a hurricane.

So, it's not a matter of just the almost non-existant risk of fouling beaches from the offshore drilling. It's the tradeoff between drilling, and tankering in the crude. By drilling you're significantly REDUCING the risk of fouling your beaches. The only lower risk solution is to go live at Walden Pond. Or maybe we can build a thousand nuclear plants and then all drive electric cars. Take your pick.

[Mike]

To the people that think it is a choice between drilling for lower gas prices and the environmental/tourism risk you are sadly mistaken. There are no lower gas price benefits at all to drilling. All this buys you is another 1-2 years of oil, if that. Not to mention, when is the last time you filled your car up with light sweet crude?? You are forgetting the key factor here, refining the stuff? We haven't built a refinery in 30 years. Drilling for oil is just grabbing a bigger shovel. EVENTUALLY you have to stop digging. You want to cut your gas price by 40%?? You want to make Detroit economically viable again? Start driving cars like they have in Europe that have a 30%-40% better fuel efficiency. Take your $4 a gallon gas and knock off 30% and you're back to 2.80 a gallon. And guess what, since our standards are the lowest in the world, raising will allow you to actually sell what Detroit makes overseas. Drilling is the past and it’s misinformed and short sighted. Alternatives are the future and the only way you get to alternatives is if you start to end the denial that oil is the answer. To overcome the economic pain we need to become serious about alternatives. This drilling is as much as a gimmick as the gas tax holiday and does not put anything in your pocket. Wake up and realize this and that’s how you'll avoid the economic pain by starting to change your consumption and eventually your fuel.

FL deserves no oil or natural gas drilled in another state until her politicians allow drilling here - how's that!

[Mel Bernstein]

Is there a risk from U.S. companies doing offshore drilling? Sure. But in all the years they've been doing it, there have been a total of 2 spills - and the last one was over 35 years ago. I guess they've learned a lot since then.

The first was the infamous Santa Barbara oil spill from rigs only 3 miles offshore. Environmental wackos said that the beach would be ruined for 100 years. Two years later there wasn't any eveidence that it ever happened. The second was a few years later offshore Texas, and it had minimal impact.

Where are the problems? From foreign countries, and from tankers. Mexico had some blowouts that did more damage to Texas beaches than anything we ever came close to doing. And then there was the Exxon Valdez. Many tankers clean their holds and put out more junk than any offshore rig, even in a hurricane.

So, it's not a matter of just the almost non-existant risk of fouling beaches from the offshore drilling. It's the tradeoff between drilling, and tankering in the crude. By drilling you're significantly REDUCING the risk of fouling your beaches. The only lower risk solution is to go live at Walden Pond. Or maybe we can build a thousand nuclear plants and then all drive electric cars. Take your pick.

[Brendan Steinhauser]

It's time to explore for oil and gas off our coasts.

http://www.gaspriceprotest.com/?g=1

[Sarasota]

Terry Mead said:
Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina and Rita knocked over 117 production platforms with nearly 1000 wells on them. There were no oil spills. How much better can the safety systems designed into these platform work before Florida gets their head out of the beach sand and starts drilling.
---------
Dead wrong information about hurricane spills in 2005 west gulf. According to the govts own MMS over 130,000 gallons spilled off shore and over 8 million spilled on shore. Its in this report, buried in paragraph 5:
http://www.mms.gov/ooc/press/2006/press0501.htm

Also satalite photos were released by skytruth.org who had to get them thru the Canadian Space Agency here, totaly unreported by the media. Showing the over 130,000 gallons of "reported" spills offshore:
http://skytruth.mediatools.org/gallery/432

I too am leaning for drilling off 150 miles but we need to debate with all the facts. We cannot get our facts from biased sources like Schnitt show, or any talk radio which Ive heard this misstatement often and have emailed them to correct.

[Virginia]

Drill Here! Drill Now!

IT'S LONG OVERDUE!

Longtime Fl. resident living less than a mile from the Gulf.

[allen antrim]

Let's see, we can't drill, we can't mine oil shale, we can't disturb the dead dinosaurs in the tar pits, we can't build refineries and power plants, burn coal or dump atomic waste anywhere nor mine the earth and damage "her" and all the actors that own sea shore don't want to look at wind generators--does this sound like we are suicidal?

[mike]

The O man states that domestic product increases are not the answer to our problem. We need alternative Green Energy. Well thats all good and fine except we do not have the technology now. OIl runs the economy. Everything you buy is delivered by a truck "everything". Add in the Liberman-Warner carbon tax scam on top of $150-$200.00
a barrel oil and see what happens to your life. In Florida you can kiss your tourist business goodbye.

[Steve]

Cuba and China will soon be drilling close to Florida, I'm sure the USA can
do it much safer and accident free.

[ds]

China is drilling for oil right now, right off of the coast of Florida. Is that ok with you folks? We can't get our own oil because of the wack jobs in control, but China has no problem drilling in our back yard!

Uh, Paul, apparently you only selectively read the news. This is NOT a fact. It was an erroneous statement made by our current Vice President. Cuba has NO provisions of any sort at this time with China. Do your research, please, before spreading more falsehoods. While Cuba COULD do this and it WOULD be about 50 to 60 miles off our coast, it is NOT currently being done.

[Peter]

Don't be fooled by the opening line of this article. The author might be trying to have you believe Gov. Crist loves John McCain's offshore drilling plan and has now reversed his position opposing off-shore drilling for Florida in an effort to pitch for the VP slot on the ballot. The reality is that if you read it carefully, all this article says is that Gov. Crist is in favor of lifting yet another big gov't federal ban, and leaving the decision to drill up to the STATES, where everyone who's ever read the US Constitution knows that power should rest. Gov. Crist isn't flip flopping; he's not saying he's going to John Wayne-ride the first drill-bit squarely into the Everglades himself. He's saying the decision should rest w/ the legislatures and executives of individual states, and lifting the ban allows that to happen again. He wants to allow Florida, the most impacted area of the proposed drilling, to decide what’s best for Florida – and he’s made his decision on it. He doesn't like it for Florida, and I think he's been clear on that. That’s what he’s said here. His comments in this article derive not from a grab at the VP spot, but from his position that he, as Gov. of FL, shouldn’t be making those same decisions for the people and Govs. of Louisiana, California, or Alaska. Gov. Crist is an effective politician and does good work serving the people of Florida and would do the same in any federal office. Being a politician isn't a bad thing unless you abuse that power by engaging in frivolous acts to grab at poll numbers. This election can stay above all that nonsense and have a real debate on serious issues, and it's the first one in a while we can say that about. Gov. Crist on the ticket would give a fresh, intelligent, reasoned, and effective voice in the VP's office.