Put It On The Ballot NOW!

So it looks like we are finally going to have a Special Session of the Florida Legislature more than 90 days after the Gusher in the Gulf punched us in the gut.

And what do we hear from the President of the Senate (Mike Haridopolos) and the Speaker of the House (Dean Cannon)? "We don't need this. The law in Florida already bans drilling in State waters..."

Oh yea? Do you think we don't remember 2009 when the Florida House brought up and passed a bill to allow drilling right off the coast, in state waters, WITHOUT ANY DEBATE OR COMMITTEE HEARINGS?

Only common sense in the Florida Senate in 2009 saved us from this folly. And common sense in the Florida Senate is a fleeting thing (and often a rarity).

Before the BP Disaster struck, the incoming aforementioned leaders of the 2011 Legislature announced that 2011 would be the year that near shore drilling would be pushed through. The House was teed up and ready to go--they already sold us out once--and the incoming Senate President was a Drill Baby Drill proponent. They made no bones about their desire to move this to the top of their agenda and get it passed in 2011.

Only after the Gusher started lapping up on our beaches did Rep. Cannon and Sen. Haridopolos slightly moderate their views.

Now they are opposing the Special Session and are hiding behind the legal fiction that they can't change that law that now protects us. Their sound bite logic is that Floridians don't need a constitutional amendment because the law already prohibits what the Amendment would prohibit.

Of course, that is until the Legislature changes it!

That's why we need a Constitutional Amendment that can't be changed by the Legislature.

They also say that the Special Session will be too expensive. Actually, it's just the opposite--we can't afford to wait for the regular Legislative Session to address all the issues affecting the State because of this environmental disaster. Just ask the Panhandle Counties who are trying to deal with it now.

The voters of Florida need to weigh in and pass a Constitutional Amendment to ban near shore drilling, forever. We now know how devastating this is to jobs and the incomes of Floridians.

Yet, the reluctance of the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate to even respond to Charlie Crist's call for a Special Session tells you all you need to know.

This subject is NOT off their agenda.

Remember when the Legislature was beholden to the commercial fishing lobby and a grassroots effort was undertaken to ban gill netting in Florida waters? The results have been tremendous for our juvenile fish stocks which were needlessly killed in gill nets. Commercial fishermen adapted.

We've always lived without drilling near shore. Heck, we won't even have to adapt to any change--just try to ensure some protection for our environment to the extent that we as citizens can.

All of the reasons relied upon by the Florida House in passing their drilling bill in 2009 have been exposed as lies. It's now abundantly clear to everyone that the oil industry doesn't have new, safe technology. They have no contingency plans for clean ups. They are more interested in manipulating the facts to cover up their misdeeds than they are in paying claims and cleaning up the toxic mess.

So, why would we ever want to expand that right off our mangroves and beaches?

So, it's time to tell your Legislators that you want them to put this Amendment on the ballot in November for an up or down vote by Floridians.

Do we ever want drilling rigs within 10 miles of our shores?

And, oh yea, by the way, you can remind your Legislators that there are many more issues for our Legislature to start working on immediately, because it is clear that we are going to have an even more severe budget shortfall from the loss of sales tax revenues as a result of this disaster.

Make some noise. Pay attention to this Special Session. Take note of how all of our elected representatives vote during the Special session and act accordingly to get the right people elected in November who want to protect our natural resources and our jobs.