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Haridopolos says oil spill 'gives me pause' on pursuit of drilling in Florida

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 7:34pm

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Sen. Mike Haridopolos, the Senate's incoming Senate president who along with incoming House Speaker Rep. Dean Cannon had expected to push for oil exploration when they take office next year, said he is having second thoughts in the wake of the spill off the Louisiana Coast.
 
"I'm very concerned. You can't put a strong enough word on it,'' Haridopolos told reporters late Wednesday. "We have not seen something like this in American waters since 1969 and we thought the technology would prevent something like this from happening again.''
 
He compared the blowout tragedy to the coal mining disasters in West Virginia and the shuttle disasters that hurt his home region, the Space Coast. "These are dangerous operations."
 
Haridopolos said he and Cannon will spend the summer studying what happened in the Gulf. "Was it human error, was it sabotage or just the inherent risk of the operation? I don't know. I don't think anybody knows at this point."
 
"I have great pause,'' he said. "The good news is, we've got a year to figure out where we're at and why and to see what's the best thing for Florida."

[Last modified: Thursday, September 9, 2010 11:32am]

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