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Hands Across the Sand oil protest

U.S. House opposes oil drilling

Written by Cindy Lane on . Posted in Anna Maria Island, Community News, Manatee County.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills banning oil drilling off the Gulf Coast of Florida and in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans on Sept. 11.

The Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act (H.R. 205) amends the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 to permanently block offshore oil and gas leasing off Florida’s Gulf Coast. The current moratorium, which protects waters up to 235 miles off the coast in the eastern Gulf, is set to expire in June 2022.

The Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act (H.R. 1941) protects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Florida Straits.

“Representatives (Joe) Cunningham (D-S.C.), (Francis) Rooney (R-Fla.) and (Kathy) Castor (D-Fla.) should be applauded for putting politics aside and coming together to protect our coasts from offshore drilling,” said Diane Hoskins, campaign director at Oceana, an international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation.

Oceana representatives visited supporters in Holmes Beach last week, the day before the vote. The Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Gulf Coast Business Coalition and Oceana drew dozens of supporters to the Protect Our Coast Happy Hour at Waterline Marina Resort and Beach Club in Holmes Beach on Sept. 10.

“Write letters to your newspaper,” Robin Miller, president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the Florida Gulf Coast Business Coalition told the group, urging them to join the coalition at https://www.protectthegulfcoast.org/.

More than 90% of U.S. waters, including Florida waters, are in the federal programs slated for oil and gas drilling and leasing, Hunter Miller, Oceana campaign organizer for the Florida Gulf Coast, told the group, adding that the Florida delegation is united against the practice.

The cities of Anna Maria, Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach, as well as the Manatee County Commission, have expressed their opposition to plans to expand offshore drilling by passing resolutions, joining nearly 100 cities and towns across Florida.

Oceana is now calling on the Senate to make the legislation a reality and permanently protect U.S. coasts from the threat of expanded offshore drilling activities.

The “vote to permanently ban offshore drilling underscores the strength of bipartisan opposition to President Trump’s radical drilling plan. Opening nearly all our waters to dirty and dangerous drilling is out of touch with every East and West coast governor,” Hoskins said in a press release.

“Offshore drilling threatens our fishing, tourism and recreation industries and everyone who calls the coast home. But the fight is not over, and we must not give up until permanent protections are established or President Trump’s plan is officially off the table.”

“I have consistently opposed drilling off the coast of Florida and was a co-sponsor of the bill that passed permanently banning all drilling off the Gulf Coast,” Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) said in a press release.

“This bill also included my amendment to restore critical safety regulations adopted in response to Deepwater Horizon. As Floridians know all too well, an oil spill can devastate a regional economy and inflict long-term environmental damage. Southwest Florida is blessed with some of the world’s greatest natural treasures. We cannot allow our beaches, wildlife and way of life to be threatened by another oil spill.”

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Oil drilling prohibited in Florida waters

Oil drilling off, then back on ballot

Hands Across the Sand oil protest

Oil drilling prohibited in Florida waters

Written by Cindy Lane on . Posted in First Place, Special Sections.

Floridians voted to prohibit oil drilling in state waters today, passing Florida Constitutional Amendment 9 by 69 percent.

Manatee County voters followed suit, approving the amendment by 69.44 percent.

It takes 60 percent of voters to approve a state constitutional amendment.

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Environmental Writing

2018

The proposal will prohibit drilling for exploration or extraction of oil or natural gas beneath all state waters between the mean high-water line and the outermost boundaries of the state’s territorial seas, about nine miles off the western and southern coastlines in the Gulf of Mexico and at least three miles off the eastern coastline in the Atlantic Ocean.

Drilling in federal waters is not affected.

The measure also prohibits the use of vapor-generating electronic devices in enclosed indoor workplaces.

The Florida Supreme Court placed the amendment back on the ballot shortly before the election after a Leon County Circuit judge removed it and two others from the ballot for combining unrelated issues in single proposed amendments.

In its Oct. 17 opinion, the state’s high court ruled that the Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) can include multiple issues in single amendments, but three justices criticized the practice.

“When amending our Florida Constitution, voters should not be forced to vote ‘yes’ on a proposal they disfavor in order to also vote ‘yes’ on a proposal they support because of how the Constitution Revision Commission has unilaterally decided to bundle multiple, independent and unrelated proposals,” Justice Barbara Pariente wrote.

The amendment was supported by the League of Women Voters, Florida Wildlife Federation, Gulf Restoration Network, American Cancer Society, Florida Policy Institute, Progress Florida, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Earthjustice.

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Hands Across the Sand oil protest

Oil drilling off, then back on ballot

Written by Cindy Lane on . Posted in First Place, Special Sections.

Even though it addresses two entirely unrelated subjects – prohibiting oil drilling and indoor vaping – Florida Constitutional Amendment 9 will be included on the 2018 General Election ballot in November, the Florida Supreme Court has ruled.

The decision reverses a Leon County Circuit judge’s decision to remove the proposal and two others from the ballot because they combine unrelated issues in single proposed amendments.

In its Oct. 17 opinion, the state’s high court ruled that the Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) can include multiple issues in single amendments, a practice criticized by opponents as a political ploy to defeat popular proposals by pairing them with unpopular proposals.

First Place

Environmental Writing

2018

Three justices, R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince, agreed with the ruling but criticized the practice.

“When amending our Florida Constitution, voters should not be forced to vote ‘yes’ on a proposal they disfavor in order to also vote ‘yes’ on a proposal they support because of how the Constitution Revision Commission has unilaterally decided to bundle multiple, independent and unrelated proposals,” Pariente wrote.

“Bundling multiple, independent and unrelated proposals in this way makes the task of voting significantly more difficult for Florida’s citizens, requiring them to decide – in addition to weighing the independent merits of each proposal – whether voting in favor of one proposal they approve of is worth also approving a proposal they do not favor.”

Earlier this year, the CRC approved the proposal, which would prohibit drilling for exploration or extraction of oil or natural gas beneath all state waters between the mean high-water line and the outermost boundaries of the state’s territorial seas, about nine miles off the western and southern coastlines and at least three miles off the eastern coastline.

It also adds the use of vapor-generating electronic devices to the current prohibition of tobacco smoking in enclosed indoor workplaces.

Passing the amendment might signal to a federal government that advocates drilling in federal waters that Floridians oppose offshore drilling, according to the League of Women Voters, which supports the amendment along with the Florida Wildlife Federation, Gulf Restoration Network, American Cancer Society, Florida Policy Institute, Progress Florida, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Earthjustice.

The amendment is one of 12 that Florida voters will decide Nov. 6. Constitutional amendments require at least 60 percent of the vote to become law.

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More Gulf waters leased for oil, gas

oil lease map

More Gulf waters leased for oil, gas

Written by Cindy Lane on . Posted in First Place, Special Sections.

Twenty-nine companies bid more than $178 million for the leasing rights to explore and drill for oil and gas under 801,000 acres of the Gulf of Mexico at a lease sale on Aug. 15 in New Orleans.

The lease sale was the third held under the 2017-22 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. In January, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced a new proposed program for 2019-24, but the current schedule for 10 lease sales for 78 million acres will continue until it is approved, according to the department.

First Place

Environmental Writing

2018

Zinke told Florida Gov. Rick Scott earlier this year that Florida would be “off the table” for offshore drilling, but later admitted at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing that “Florida is still in the process.”

The tracts are located from three to 231 miles offshore of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas in water depths ranging from nine to more than 11,000 feet. The closest tract to Anna Maria Island is in the Vernon Basin, southwest of Manatee County.

The Gulf of Mexico OCS, covering about 160 million acres, contains about 48 billion barrels of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and 141 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered technically recoverable gas, according to the Department of the Interior.

The top 10 bidders at the sale are Exxon Mobil Corp., Hess Corp., Chevron U.S.A. Inc., Equinor Gulf of Mexico LLC, BP Exploration & Production Inc., Anadarko U.S. Offshore LLC, Shell Offshore Inc. E&P USA, Inc. Deep Gulf Energy III, and LLC Walter Oil & Gas Corporation.

The bidders will pay revenues from the leases to the U.S. Treasury Department, the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Historic Preservation Fund.

“(The) lease sale is yet another step our nation has taken to achieve economic security and energy dominance,” Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said in a press release. “The results from the lease sale will help secure well-paying offshore jobs for rig and platform workers, support staff onshore, and related industry jobs, while generating much-needed revenue to fund everything from conservation to infrastructure.”

“The reality is that there is no such thing as safe offshore drilling,” Bradley Marshall, Staff Attorney at Earthjustice, wrote in a press release. “In Florida, millions of jobs in the tourism industry are at stake in protecting our beaches. That’s why so many of Florida’s leaders, regardless of what political party they belong to, have been so protective of our coasts all these years. The bottom line is that it is irresponsible to threaten Florida’s beaches. Instead of continuing to invest in the harmful fossil fuels of the past, we should be investing in the clean, renewable energy of the future. That’s where the jobs are at, and that’s what will protect Florida’s coastal environment.”

“A call for drilling any closer to Florida’s shores than we have today is absurd and deeply troubling,” Linda Young, Executive Director of the Florida Clean Water Network, wrote in a press release. “The repercussions of (bidder) BP’s reckless disaster live on for thousands of people across the Gulf, as well as the marine life, birds and other land-based animals that will not recover in our lifetimes.”

A proposed amendment to the Florida constitution would prohibit “drilling for exploration or extraction of oil or natural gas” if approved. The proposal is on the ballot for the Nov. 6 general election; it will need at least 60 percent of voters to pass.

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Oil and rigs

Oil and gas lease sale set for August

Written by Cindy Lane on . Posted in First Place, Special Sections.

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will offer 78 million acres of federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas for oil and gas exploration and development on Wednesday, Aug. 15, according to an agency press release.

The announcement underscores accusations from critics that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s promise earlier this year to Florida Gov. Rick Scott that Florida would be “off the table” for offshore drilling was an “election-year stunt.”

First Place

Environmental Writing

2018

At a subsequent Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, Zinke admitted that “Florida is still in the process,” when asked about the agency’s offshore drilling program, according to Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who is defending his Senate seat in a race against Republican Scott.

A proposed amendment to the Florida constitution would prohibit “drilling for exploration or extraction of oil or natural gas” if approved. The proposal is on the ballot for the Nov. 6 general election; it will need at least 60 percent of voters to pass.

“Responsibly developing our offshore energy resources is a major pillar of this administration’s energy strategy,” Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt said in the press release announcing the lease sale. “A strong offshore energy program supports tens of thousands of well-paying jobs and provides the affordable and reliable energy Americans need to heat homes, fuel our cars and power our economy.”

“Powering America and protecting the offshore environment are not mutually exclusive,” Counselor to the Secretary for Energy Policy Vincent DeVito said in the press release. “We can do both. American energy production can be competitive while remaining safe and environmentally sound. This lease sale is just one piece of the Administration’s comprehensive effort to secure our Nation’s energy future.”

Lease Sale 251, scheduled to be live-streamed from New Orleans, will be the third offshore sale under the National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2017-22. Under the program, 10 lease sales are scheduled for the Gulf, where resource potential and industry interest are high, and oil and gas infrastructure is well established. Two Gulf lease sales will be held each year.

The sale will include approximately 14,622 unleased blocks located from three to 231 miles offshore in the Gulf’s Western, Central and Eastern planning areas in water depths ranging from nine to more than 11,115 feet (three to 3,400 meters). The Gulf of Mexico OCS, covering about 160 million acres, contains about 48 billion barrels of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and 141 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered technically recoverable gas, according to the release.

Successful bidders will pay a 12.5 percent royalty rate for leases in less than 200 meters of water and a royalty rate of 18.75 percent for all other leases.

Terms and conditions for the lease sale are detailed in the Final Notice of Sale (FNOS) information package. The FNOS is available in the Federal Register.

Hands Across the Sand oil protest

Oil drilling proposal may be headed for ballot

Written by Cindy Lane on . Posted in First Place, Special Sections.

Updated March 27, 2018

The Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) has selected 25 of 36 proposals, including Proposal 91, to send to its Style and Drafting Committee.

Sponsored by CRC member Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, Proposal 91 would prohibit drilling for exploration or extraction of oil or natural gas beneath all state waters between the mean high water line and the outermost boundaries of the state’s territorial seas.

After the proposals are written in their final form, the 37-member CRC will reconvene next month to vote on them. Proposals must receive at least 22 votes to be placed on the 2018 General Election Ballot.

As the eighth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster approaches, a proposal to prohibit drilling for oil or natural gas in Florida’s coastal waters is one of 36 in the running to be placed on the November ballot for voters to decide.

The Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) is scheduled to meet for five days beginning on Monday, March 19 to decide which, if any, of the proposals – and several others initiated by citizens – will make it onto the ballot.

Every 20 years, the commission is appointed to review proposals that would amend the state constitution with 60 percent of the popular vote. Statewide public hearings on the proposals ended this week.

First Place

Environmental Writing

2018

Proposal 91, sponsored by CRC member Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, would prohibit drilling for exploration or extraction of oil or gas beneath all state waters between the mean high water line and the outermost boundaries of the state’s territorial seas.

“We have a chance to make history and turn the ship. We would be the only state in the nation to have this in our state constitution,” Thurlow-Lippisch wrote in a press release. “The oil and gas industry claim oil drilling is safe and that it would be good for Florida’s economy and job creation. I say, look no further than what happened in Louisiana during the BP oil spill. Drilling so close to shore, as is done in other coastal southern states, has the potential to be visually, environmentally and economically destructive to Florida’s unique marine, wildlife, real estate and tourism resources.”

The proposal has been supported by environmental groups and representatives from the fishing industry, including local groups Suncoast Waterkeeper and the Manatee Fish and Game Association.

Lucan Thompson, of St. Petersburg, said during the final CRC public hearing on Tuesday, March 13 that Proposal 91 would “protect us from air and water pollution.”

“Oil is not sustainable,” Jeanie Ghafari told commissioners, reminding them that the Deepwater Horizon/BP explosion and spill on April 20, 2010, killed 11 people.

“What is at risk? Oil spills are not contained in the ocean. They contaminate the shoreline. They can last more than 30 years like the Exxon Valdez,” she said. “Tourism feeds Florida’s economy. Are we willing to destroy tourism, our main industry? Are we willing to destroy the shoreline for decades? Are we willing to contaminate the Florida aquifers that millions of families depend on? Are we willing to kill fish and other sea life? I say no.”

Florida not safe

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) warns that despite a federal moratorium on drilling within 125 miles of Florida’s coast, which expires in 2022, and despite U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s assurance to Gov. Rick Scott earlier this year that the waters off Florida’s Gulf Coast would remain off limits to drilling, the Trump administration appears to be including Florida in a new, five-year offshore oil leasing proposal.

“Interior Secretary Zinke doubled down on confusing lawmakers in Congress when he admitted in the House Natural Resources Committee (on Thursday, March 15) that, ‘Florida did not get an exemption,’ referencing the agency’s five-year offshore drilling plan and his announcement in January with Gov. Scott saying Florida was ‘off the table’ for oil drilling,” Nelson said in a press release. “More and more, it’s beginning to sound like no deal really exists and, as feared, it’s all one big political sleight of hand.”

Nelson wrote to Zinke this month requesting that Florida be removed from the Interior Department’s proposal, which would begin in 2019.

He concludes: “Under Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Interior Department is required to balance oil and gas interests with environmental sensitivities and the policies of affected states, such as Florida’s Coastal Management Program. From everything I have discussed in this letter and all I have heard from my constituents, there is no justification for including Florida in the five-year plan. Once again, I strongly urge you to truly take Florida “off the table” by removing the Atlantic Coast, the Straits of Florida, and the entire eastern Gulf of Mexico moratorium area from consideration for future lease sales.”

Watch the live hearings beginning Monday, March 19 at 10 a.m.