Offshore gulf drilling debate redux

The latest proposal calls for oil prospecting 125 miles from Florida’s coast.

WASHINGTON – In the lurching, on-again, off-again campaign to allow more oil and gas drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the march is on again.

With the backing of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the U.S. House Resources Committee on Wednesday will consider a sweeping compromise that would allow drilling as close as 125 miles off Florida’s coast in exchange for giving the state Legislature and governor control of waters much closer to shore.
The proposal would allow drilling in much of Lease-Sale Area 181, an underwater tract that is 213 miles off the cost of Tampa Bay and is believed to be rich in oil reserves.

The governor’s top environmental official praised the deal, saying it will provide historic protection against “the environmental and economic threat of oil drilling” at a time when the state is under increasing pressure to open its waters.

St. Petersburgh Times