Most Floridians support drilling
To the editor:
Last Saturday’s Hands Across The Sand events were an attempt to dissuade lawmakers from passing legislation that would open Florida’s waters to offshore oil and natural gas exploration. While the events received a lot of attention from the media, many news reports did not reflect the views of a majority of Floridians who do believe it is time to tap into the domestic fuel sources off our shores.
Contrary to the rhetoric of opponents, those of us who favor increased exploration for oil and natural gas are not looking for a quick fix at the gas pump. We know that is not going to lower the price we pay per gallon. What concerns us is our nation’s and our state’s energy future. Without a comprehensive energy plan in place that combines alternative energy, conservation and more domestic energy production, we will face decreased access to energy sources and increased energy costs.
Further, we are concerned about the implications of rising energy costs on our economy. Florida has suffered enough job loss in the last year. Do we really want to compound that by hitting struggling industries and small businesses with higher operating costs thereby forcing them to lay off employees? Just this week, tourism officials announced a drop in the number of visitors to the state. Policies that result in making it more expensive to bring visitors to Florida certainly will not help revitalize this anchor industry. For those who say offshore drilling will hurt our tourism industry, I urge you to learn more about the cleaner, safer and less intrusive technologies that can find and extract oil and natural gas without hurting our pristine coastline.
Protecting our environment and tourism industry is important, but strengthening our economy and energy future for generations to come is paramount.
Nicolas Gutierrez, Jr.
Chairman of the FLA Energy Forum, a non-partisan group of Floridians concerned about energy issues
affecting the state