Teresa Stephen wants to weigh the real cost Florida will pay
for offshore oil drilling against the purported benefits.
Several summers ago, we spent a day at New Smyrna Beach and met a
lady from Texas. She informed us that
they could not enjoy the Texas beaches as they were fouled by oil, thus the
visit to Florida.
This prompted my daughter to educate
Floridians about the risk of oil spills including the risk from the real possibility of hurricanes. My daughter began a community service project
whereby she circulated printed petitions and created an on-line petition
against oil drilling in Florida. She
sent letters to many House members of Florida last year when they were voting
to allow oil drilling off Florida's coastline.
Our family has been actively working against oil drilling in Florida for
several years on a small scale.
My
question: How much we have to lose financially from oil drilling? Is Texas really that much better off than we
are with their dirty beaches? What
really does Florida have to lose and gain financially? If it is so great, why have they not included
drilling off of Maine and other beaches whereby lobster and fish thrive? Who really gets this oil? Doesn't BP have the right to sell it
overseas? Many Floridians think if we
drill it they will bring it on shore and the cost of gas will go down here.
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