Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez seem determined to bring up drilling off Florida again. [View All]

[madfloridian]

The House chose not to vote on the bill allowing drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. However, my Senator Bill Nelson seems to be intent on continuing pressure to bring the bill forward. Since Landrieu and Bingaman, both Democrats, agree so strongly....could it be the bill will be pushed again by our own Democrats?

I am trying to understand Bill Nelson's utter obsession with getting this done. BTW I am proud of Ron Klein and Tim Mahoney for speaking up already against the bill.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/nation/epaper/2006/12/05/a8a_drilling_1205.html

WASHINGTON —

Congressmen-elect Ron Klein and Tim Mahoney urged their soon-to-be colleagues Monday to reject a bill allowing for limited oil and gas drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Meanwhile, Florida's two senators, Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Mel Martinez, urged the bill's passage.

Nelson spokesman Bryan Gulley said Nelson's staff has been pushing the bill in discussions with House staffers from Florida. Gulley said Democratic control of Congress does not mean there won't be pressure to drill in the gulf. He pointed to recent statements by incoming Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., urging more exploration in the gulf.

Gulley called the Senate bill a "hard-won compromise" and "the best deal we could probably get."

And an editorial in The Ledger points out that some will be showing their true colors since the election November 7 if they keep pursuing this now. And Bill Nelson is keeping on.

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061205/NEWS/612050325/1036

Then came Nov. 7. The Democrats gained enough seats to take control of both houses of Congress. Moreover, Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Resources Committee and a proponent of all-out drilling for the Gulf of Mexico, was defeated. Now that the list of players has changed, some environmentalists are urging Florida's delegation to back off the Senate agreement, reasoning the threat to offshore drilling has subsided.

"It's going to show people's true colors," Mark Ferrulo, executive director of Environment Florida, told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. "Now that the compromised will no longer be a necessity, we're going to see where these members really stand when it comes to protecting Florida's Gulf waters from drilling."

But neither Nelson nor Martinez are comfortable that doing nothing is a good alternative. "If nothing passes," said Martinez in a statement, "drilling could begin next year with no additional protections for Florida."

And Nelson's office pointed out Monday that the incoming chairman of the Senate Energy and National Resources Committee, doesn't seem interested in limiting oil drilling in the Gulf. On Friday, Congressional Quarterly reported that the incoming chairman, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., criticized the Senate bill "not because it allows new drilling, but because it protects too much territory off the Florida coast from future exploration."

Please someone explain what is meant when Nelson and Martinez say that doing nothing is not ok. What do they mean that drilling will begin if the Senate version of the bill is not passed. Has drilling already been approved, what do they mean?

This is part of that version.

The Senate version also expands drilling, but in a far more limited fashion. It would allow drilling in about 8.3 million acres in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, Most of the Florida coastline would have a 125-mile buffer against drilling rigs, and the state's West Coast beaches would be protected to a line 235 miles out.

Seems our Democrats are just as much into drilling in the Gulf as the Republicans are/were. Maybe I am reading it wrong.