On April 27th Representative Scott Randolph spoke out against the oil drilling legislation that was being forced through the tail-end of the 2009 Legislative Session. Fortunately, the drilling bills were stopped. However, there is now a push at the federal level to expand gas and oil expansion/drilling rights in Florida coastal waters. Rep. Randolph's speech is needed just as much now as it was back in the Spring.

Rep. Randolph addresses that increased drilling in the Gulf will have virtually a negligible effect on gas prices. He questions the motives of the oil industry and its habit of sitting on current, existing oil leases as it chases down new ones. Rep. Randolph asserts that this is not merely an issue of drilling, but an issue of Florida's landscape and future as well. If oil rigs come to coastal waters, so too will numerous arrays of pipelines, refineries and storage tanks. He asks how we would like Florida to look in 20 years. Do we want a coastline like Louisiana's, which only has 15 public beaches? Also, we are reminded that the funds set aside to pay for any negative side effects, such as spills and disasters, have been completely exhausted. Therefore, any money needed to counter the harmful results of drilling would come from general revenue (and at a time when the budget is already strained enough). Lastly, Rep. Randolph makes the case for common sense. Using elementary arithmetic, he calculates and shows that efficiency and conservation, in the forms of emission and fuel standards in just a small portion of the state's overall fleet, would save more oil than all the oil drilled in the Gulf could provide.