From this morning's Miami Herald:
GULF OIL SPILL
Drill ban amendment now considered
Gov. Charlie Crist is considering a special legislative session which may put a ban on near-shore drilling to a vote.
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS, JENNIFER LEBOVICH AND JOSEPH GOODMAN
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
TALLAHASSEE -- With the Gulf oil spill beginning to reach land, political tensions in Florida rose Thursday as Gov. Charlie Crist said he may call a special legislative session to put a drilling ban on the November ballot.
``It would seem to me, at a minimum, giving the people a voice on this issue would be helpful,'' Crist told the Herald/Times after a meeting in Pensacola with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. ``What I need to do is evaluate if a special session is needed but it is something I am considering.''
The idea of a special session for a constitutional amendment came from Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Democratic lawmakers who say voters should decide whether they want to permanently end efforts to open Florida's near-shore waters to oil and gas exploration.
But the top two proponents of the drilling proposal, incoming legislative leaders Dean Cannon and Mike Haridopolos, said they don't see the need for a special session. They took an aerial tour of the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday and said later that they will halt all drilling talk -- for now.
``At the very minimum, we are going to permanently table this issue,'' said Haridopolos, R-Indialantic, the incoming Senate president. ``This is a game-changer. Something like this has never happened in my lifetime. We're not focused on politics, like some people are.''
Haridopolos described the oozing oil spill as ``an orangish, pinkish sheen'' that was ``just sobering. . . . We learned the hard way that whether it be in Florida water or anywhere in the Gulf, it can affect Florida.''
Cannon, the next House speaker, said that although he has spent the last year developing legislation that would open Florida waters to oil and gas exploration three to 10 miles out, he is prepared to put the idea on hold. But he does not think that a special session and constitutional amendment are needed.
``There is no need for a special session because there is an exacting ban in place and it's not going to change,'' Cannon said, referring to the federal moratorium on oil drilling within 125 miles of Florida shores. ``Our resources are better spent addressing the problem.''
Democrats, however, have seized the crisis as a chance to pounce. Standing before pristine beach views in Miami Beach and St. Petersburg, Sen. Dan Gelber, a Democratic candidate for attorney general, and Reps. Rick Kriseman of St. Petersburg and Keith Fitzgerald of Sarasota, both Democrats, argued that an amendment is needed to protect Florida from future Legislatures.
``We're proposing to drive a stake through the heart of this particularly bad idea, and end it once and for all,'' said Fitzgerald.
The amendment would impose a permanent ban on exploration, drilling, oil extraction and production under Florida waters, which stretch out 10 miles from shore.
``I believe there are millions of Floridians who, as they watch the horror unfolding in the Gulf, want the state government to say, `Stop it, we don't want it here, we don't want it anymore,' '' Gelber said. ``We shouldn't have to resort to prayers.''
Sink echoed their call: ``If you see it, as I did, all you can think about is what if we had been drilling three miles out and this happened? It would be a disaster of enormous proportions.''
House Deputy Majority Leader Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland, chided Democrats for ``looking to score political points off what may be an environmental and economic blow to our state.''
Cannon noted there are other lessons from the spill, including lack of state control over drilling.
``This incident occurred in federal water under a lease that Florida has no say in and has no control over,'' he said, adding Florida should work with the federal government to make sure energy exploration in Cuban and Bahamian waters is safe.
Miami Herald reporter Jim Wyss and Jennifer Lebovich reported from Miami, Joseph Goodman reported from Pensacola, Lee Logan from Tallahassee, Geoff Pender, of the Biloxi Sun Herald, reported from Biloxi, Katie Sanders of the St. Petersburg Times reported from St. Petersburg, and Sara Kennedy of the Bradenton Herald reported from St. Petersburg.
Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@MiamiHerald.com
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/06/1 ... z0nEPRrLER