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FLORIDA POLITICS
Since 2002, daily Florida political news and commentary

 

UPDATE: Every morning we review and individually digest Florida political news articles, editorials and punditry. Our sister site, FLA Politics was selected by Campaigns & Elections as one of only ten state blogs in the nation
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Welcome To Florida Politics

Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

 

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The Blog for Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Florida GOoPers Impotent on Oil Drilling

    If powerful GOoPers like "Gov. Jeb Bush and most of the state's lawmakers in Congress have opposed the inventory, saying it is a foot in the door toward drilling off Florida's coast", why did they fall flat on their faces?
    In the wee hours Tuesday, Florida lawmakers lost their monthslong battle to stop an inventory of oil and gas resources off the state's shores that they fear could lead to drilling.
    "Legislators fail to halt oil inventory". See also "Congress OKs Gulf oil, gas inventory", "Critics of bill fear seismic testing", "Federal bill will call for oil inventory off Florida coast" and "Offshore Oil, Gas Inventory Still Alive" ("Florida lawmakers lose an effort to kill the measure from a U.S. energy bill.")

    One has to wonder how sincere the GOoPers were in helping Bill Nelson - who after all has been leading the charge against oil drilling off Florida's coast; sure they went through the motions, rolling up their shirtsleeves, staying up late and all, but did they excercise their purported political capital? Did "Jeb!" pull his strings?

    Of course, underlying the impotence of Florida GOoPers on this issue is the hypocrisy of supporting oil drilling in the Artic Refuge, yet turning around and arguing that Florida is somehow "different" or "special". That Florida GOoPer strategy - little more than trying to have it both ways - obviously failed.

    Update: Here's a look at what happened - "Who was in loop, and who was out?".

    Editorial comment: "Florida's Gulf War" ("Deceptive border game would allow oil drilling"). Well:
    What should we expect from a president and vice president so closely allied with the oil industry? The energy bill being molded by the administration does too little to conserve energy or promote alternative fuels. It gives tax breaks to fossil fuel producers, as though they need more motivation with oil near $60 a barrel. Lawmakers refuse to make automakers improve fuel efficiency or force power companies to expand use of nonpolluting fuel sources.

    A required inventory of offshore gas and oil reserves stayed in the bill, even though it makes no sense to do the costly study off Florida's coast if there is no intention of drilling there. Even Norton sees little sense in it, saying her department "would want to do (an inventory) where states want it."

    The administration claim that this energy bill will help curb our dependence on foreign oil is a joke. Only a serious conservation effort can accomplish that. And drilling off the Florida coast isn't going to slow the line of tankers from overseas.

    Instead, Florida's white sand beaches could end up looking like the Breton National Wildlife Refuge off Louisiana, where an oil spill last month killed 700 brown pelicans. Florida residents and politicians will have to remain vigilant, because this poker game is far from over.
    "Florida hold'em". See also "Wrong on energy".

6:33 AM

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