Floridians: We would've liked to vote on an offshore oil drilling ban

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Floridians: We would've liked to vote on an offshore oil drilling ban

Nearly three-quarters of Floridians support giving the state's voters a chance to decide whether to permanently ban offshore oil-drilling, a new poll shows.

The Quinnipiac University survey -- which comes a week after the Florida Legislature rejected Gov. Charlie Crist's proposal to put a referendum on the ballot -- shows that 72 percent of voters support such a move. And it comes as nearly half of those polled agree that there "is no need'' for a constitutional amendment because offshore oil-drilling is already barred by state law.

"Voters are obviously wary of offshore oil-drilling, given what's happened in the Gulf,'' said Quinnipiac pollster Peter A. Brown. But he suggested that it was unclear whether the issue would prove to be a factor for Crist's independent bid for the U.S. Senate.

"Whether it will be pressing on Election Day, that's another question,'' Brown said.

Posted by Lesley Clark at 8:02 AM on Saturday, Jul. 31, 2010 in Charlie Crist | Permalink

Comments

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The Party hacks in the Legislature stonewalled.

Give em hell Charlie!

Posted by: stuntmanmike | July 31, 2010 at 09:27 AM

The headline is misleading.... but then again so is the entire premise. Participants werent asked if they would have liked to had voted on a drilling ban, they were simply asked "Do you think that there should or should not be a referendum in which the voters would decide whether to permanently ban oil drilling within 10 miles of Florida's coast?"

I think there should be a referendum - just not this ballot.

A lot of people agree with this position - as indicated by the follow up poll question which is avoided by this article (supporting my misleading premise argument)....

That question was: "Some people say that there is no need for a constitutional amendment to ban oil drilling within 10 miles of Florida's coast because it is already against the law. Do you agree or disagree?" The answer was overwhelmingly, across all demographics, 'Agree'.

Stunt - get back to the other coast.

Posted by: LyleLangley | July 31, 2010 at 12:58 PM