Bush Brothers Split On Drilling
President Bush appears poised to approve the leasing of new drilling sites off Florida's shores over the objections of his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
The governor fired off a response Wednesday to a letter he received from his brother's interior secretary, Gale Norton, in which she had signaled a willingness to permit leasing 5.9 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico south of the Florida Panhandle.
"With the recent photographs of the collapsed drilling platform off Brazil on the front pages of many of our newspapers, there is probably now more unanimity among Floridians on this issue than ever before," the governor wrote.
He noted Floridians believe protecting their beaches from spills and other potential environmental damage is vital to their livelihoods and lifestyles.
"While we give up certain economic benefits by making this choice, it is clearly the environmentally and economically rational choice for Florida," Gov. Bush wrote.
In her letter, first reported on Wednesday by USA Today, Norton wrote an estimated 396 million barrels of oil and 2.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the lease area, known as Outer Continental Shelf Sale 181, "can play an important role in our national energy strategy."
"I must consider our nation's energy needs and appropriate management of the American public's natural resources," Norton wrote Bush on March 9, advising him the lease auction would proceed.
However, an environmental group says the wishes of Florida's residents are being cast aside.
"We're very concerned about the indication this administration is willing to go against the wishes of the entire state of Florida for three months of oil," said Mark Ferrulo, director of the Florida Public Interest Research Group, an environmental and consumer organization that opposes offshore drilling.
Most of the lease area, shaped like the state of Idaho, is 100 miles or more from Florida's shores, but a narrow arm extends to about 15 miles south of Gulf Shores, Ala., putting it about 30 miles from Perdido Key at the western end of the Panhandle.
Meanwhile, Ferrulo also expressed concern that another federal agency, the Commerce Department, may override Florida's rejection of natural gas production in previously leased sites.
"That's a bigger threat," Ferrulo said, noting those sites are as near as 25 miles to Pensacola. "That would really be the foot in the door for the oil industry off our coast."
Democrats were quick to criticize the Bush brothers and Florida Republican Party chairman Al Cardenas, who has bragged that the state would benefit from having one Bush in Washington and another in Tallahassee.
"Republicans must now be wondering whether the president is still taking his brother's phone calls," Florida Democratic Party chairman Bob Poe said in a statement. "We all know blood is thicker than water. Unfortunately, for Floridians, the Bush oil is thicker than blood."
Florida Audubon vice president Charles Lee, owever, pointed out the leasing plan was developed while Democrat Bill Clinton was president.
"It was bad then and it's bad now," Lee said. "I don't know of any elected official in the state of Florida who would support that decision, so I think there's the potential that it ain't over yet."
The governor gave it another shot in his letter, noting the state has long opposed any drilling within 100 miles of the coast.
"My position has been that there should be no such activity in the entire eastern Gulf," Bush wrote. "While clearly a more expansive position, I believe it is prudent."
His brother's administration, however, has been getting pressure from neighboring gulf states, where petroleum companies have extensive operations, to open the eastern gulf to drilling.
"Our congressional delegation needs to get more active," Ferrulo said.
©MMI The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed