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Posted on 08/29/2011 11:40:40 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Wasserman Schultz attacks Bachmann suggestion of Everglades drilling By Michael O'Brien - 08/29/11 01:28 PM ET
Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), thwacked Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) for saying she would consider allowing fossil fuel exploration in the Everglades.
Wasserman Schultz seized on comments by Bachmann, a Republican presidential candidate, suggesting she would allow exploration for oil or natural gas in the preserved Florida areas if it could be done responsibly.
"We need to look forward and invest in the future, and we won’t get there with unthinkable, reckless and irresponsible Republican proposals like drilling for oil in the Everglades," Wasserman Schultz said Monday in a statement. "As a Floridian, I can see that Michele Bachmann's outrageous proposal to drill for oil and natural gas in the Everglades, demonstrates just how out of touch Republicans are with the needs of Floridians and all Americans."
Bachmann raised the possibility of allowing exploration in the Everglades during a video interview Sunday with The Associated Press.
"The United States needs to be less dependent on foreign sources of energy, and more dependent on American resourcefulness," Bachmann told the AP. "Whether that is in the Everglades or whether that is in the eastern Gulf region or whether that is in North Dakota, we need to go over the energy rules."
The congresswoman, a Tea Party favorite, has made energy a key element of her campaign trail rhetoric as she pursues the Republican presidential nomination. Bachmann vowed earlier this month in South Carolina that, were she elected, the price of gasoline would fall to less than $2 per gallon. She didn't back down from that remark.
Bachmann said that her approval of drilling in the Everglades — or anywhere else — would depend on whether she thought it could be done responsibly.
"If we can't responsibly access energy in the Everglades, then we shouldn't do it," she said. "No one wants to hurt or contaminate the earth. We don't want to harm our water ... From there, though, that doesn't mean that the two have to be mutually exclusive. We can protect the environment, and do so responsibly, but we can also protect the environment and not kill jobs in America, and not deny ourselves access to the energy resources that America's been so blessed with."
The issue of offshore drilling has always been a touchy political issue in Florida, where the tourism industry depends on clean beaches. That industry was jeopardized last year as a result of the BP oil spill off the coast of Louisiana, the effects of which extended to Florida. Support for drilling offshore in Florida, in the past, has often hinged on its distance from the shore.
That makes Bachmann's comments even more politically thorny, given Florida's status as both a key primary state and a key swing state in the general election.
"Michele Bachmann’s latest proposal to drill in the Florida Everglades is just another example of the Republican Party supporting policies that would only further enrich the special interests, while putting our environment and working families at risk," the Wasserman Schultz said.
Did you read my first sentence? Has anyone even hinted there is oil under the Everglades? If not why use it as an example when you know 3/4 of the voters will roll their eyes at it?
Thank you. Did not know that.
Little Debbie is almost, but not quite, as smart as Sheila Jackson Lee!
Hi, my name is Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and having been wrong on every issue since I was elected to office, I am well qualified to recognize what is right and wrong.
Coming out against Bachmann, will be recognized by everyone as the endorsement it was not intended to be, but them’s are the breaks.
Debbie so you know what Swamp gas is?
This was a trap for MB. However, MB needs to recognize and respond to these type of questions indirectly such as stating that she supports responsible drilling and leave it at that. Something else could follow-such as we need to assess the risks and benefits in every situation with the help of expert advice. Letting your opposition specify your answer (drilling in/near a national park) is a big no no and this is why her campaign is unfortunately flagging.
Government can simply socialize risk through taxation and tends to be far less cautious in both developing resources and protecting land values. In addition, our Federal government now greatly favors a foolish environmental purity for political reasons and disfavors development, regardless of national economic requirements.
That said, the Everglades are an extremely fragile ecosystem, especially in relation to so many other known developable lands where significant deposits of oil, shale oil and natural gas reside. To suggest the use of these delicate lands rather than so many others was not the wisest decision, politically or otherwise, no matter how odious Ms. Whatzername-Schmutz might be.
I’m pretty sure Floridians will not go for drilling in the Everglades. They take the glades very seriously.
A lot of “conservatives” are showing themselves to be more political than conservative lately.
Its time to stop worrying about what the moderates will think and let them go to the democrat party if that’s what they want. The GOP has been “moderated” into a coma and the democrats could use some moderating.
You mean besides the drilling that has already been done in the Everglades?
http://www.collierresources.com/About_CRC/Mineral_Holdings_Oil_Fields.aspx
Oil flows there today.
News flash.
There has been oil wells in the ‘Glades for at least 35-40 yrs.
I’ve seen them around 40 mile bend on the Tamiami Trail and Ochopee.
“Tightly scripted”? You’re joking, right?
“Quest for Florida Everglades oil receives boost
Jan 15, 2002 01:00 AM
A proposal to search for oil in the Big Cypress National Preserve by detonating dynamite in 14,700 holes and drilling a 11,800-foot exploratory well has won initial approval from the National Park Service. An environmental assessment includes dozens of stipulations intended to protect marshes, forests and wildlife within the 729,000-acre preserve that is a watershed for the Everglades and a home to the endangered Florida panther.
Collier Resources still needs approval from the park service regional director in Atlanta, the Army Corps of Engineers and the state. The company’s plans include drilling the holes in a 41-square-mile grid and detonating small charges of dynamite 25 feet underground in each of them to record sound waves and look for oil. Collier Resources also wants to build a 7 1-2-mile access road in the preserve.
Environmentalists contend seismic testing, drilling and more roads, pipelines and culverts would harm the panthers, alligators, black bears, wading birds and dozens of protected species inside the preserve. “There’s no better way to protect Big Cypress than to just not drill,” said Shannon Estenoz of the World Wildlife Fund.
The Sierra Club’s Roderick Tirrell said he’s concerned about potential environmental damage caused by the access road, which could alter water flows southeast into the Everglades. “It’s unfortunate because we’re spending so much money to restore the Everglades,” he said. “We feel that (Big Cypress) is a crucial watershed because the eastern water is so mired in pollution, drainage and development runoff.”
Bob Duncan, Collier Resources general manager, said the company believes additional drilling won’t affect wildlife. “Big Cypress National Preserve maintains a high degree of environmental protection and will continue to do so,” Duncan said.
Oil exploration has been ongoing in the area for 60 years. The Collier family retained the mineral rights to their land when they sold it to the federal government for the preserve in the 1970s. The government allows oil drilling as long as it doesn’t harm the preserve.
The company currently draws about 2,200 bpd of crude oil from two well fields at opposite ends of the preserve. More than 110 mm barrels have been extracted to date.
The oil is shipped in a 17-mile buried pipeline to tanker trucks that take the crude to Port Everglades, where it is shipped to Gulf Coast refineries. Duncan said oil drilling could increase to 10,000 bpd if all the requests are approved and oil is found below the surface.”
I had no idea.
"Thwacked"? Is that a new technical term in journalism these days?
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Did you read the story? Bachmann said she would consider “exploration”. Do you know what “exploration” is?
The Everglades Natl Park is a huge area and much of it is actually far out in the waters around the tip of Florida.
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