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Offshore limbo: How low can you go?
With several bills to expand offshore drilling pending in the House and Senate, the Times asked area House members to draw their lines in the water: How far is far enough?"
| Representative |
C.W. Bill Young R-Indian Shores | Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville |
Adam Putnam R-Bartow |
Gus Bilirakis R-Palm Harbor |
Kathy Castor D-Tampa |
| How far offshore is far enough? | 100 miles | 100 miles | 100 miles, but give the Florida Legislature and the governor power to decide to drill closer to shore | 100 miles | 234 miles off Tampa Bay, 125 off the Panhandle — the law as it now stands |
| In their words | Before the 2006 law extended it, 100 miles was the buffer provided by the offshore drilling moratorium that Congress enacted. Said Young: "When we set it at 100 miles years ago, everybody involved thought that was a safe distance." | "Farther than the eye can see." | "What's more important than any given line in the water is local control." | "The last few months I've been thinking about it, and I'm comfortable with 100 miles. It's not a knee-jerk reaction, it's doing my homework, talking with my constituents, and I think it's responsible." | "It recognizes that near-shore drilling off Florida doesn't work for our economy, it doesn't work for the military or the environment." |
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