Florida House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, has sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., chairman of the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations committee, pledging support for a national oil-drilling expansion in the Gulf -- provided it doesn't lead to oil rigs that can be seen from Florida's beaches. Read more at the Orlando Sentinel.

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Once again, we’re engulfed in a battle over drilling off Florida’s Gulf coast. Must the Sunshine State fend off drilling proposals on a monthly basis? Two senators from the big oil-producing states of Alaska and Louisiana introduced a bill this week to permit drilling in the Gulf as close as 45 miles to our shores. This follows an amendment attached to the Senate energy bill that would allow oil and gas platforms not only 45 miles from our coast but only 10 miles in stretches of the Panhandle. This onerous amendment could become attached to climate legislation, a deliberate strategy to make drilling palatable to the Democrats in favor of the massive climate package. Read more at the Bradenton Herald.

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Some 63,000 gallons of crude leaked from a cracked oil pipeline 30 miles off the Louisiana coast last weekend. "Oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico," read the Reuters headline. Those are words that can strike fear in any Floridian's heart. Fortunately, this spill is no Exxon Valdez. Oil sludge is not expected to reach the upper Gulf shore. But the episode serves as a stark reminder that accidents can and do happen in offshore operations -- including pipelines. Industry lobbyists like to say that "virtually all perceived" Gulf oil spills are caused by natural seepage. Well, here's one that wasn't. The spill is another reason why Florida -- which needs a healthy Gulf and beaches even more than it needs oil -- is right to resist federal and state efforts to open more waters to drilling and related operations. Read more at the Sarasota Herald Tribune.