Look Who Rushes In Where Floridians Fear To Tread
By: Joshua Smith
I can’t speak for the other forty-nine states, but I know at least one whose citizens have no one else to blame for $3.00 gas prices but themselves. That state is Florida. Time and time again, Florida voters and politicians have made clear their opposition to offshore drilling near their beaches. This opposition is self-defeating in nature.
Florida politicians are right to be concerned for the preservation of their environment. The beaches are the main draw for tourists, and tourists are the driving force of the Florida economy. As Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist has suggested, Florida’s environment is its economy.
However, as with all things, concerns about the environment must be weighed against other factors.
- Tourists either drive to Florida or rent cars while they visit. In that way, high gas prices stand as a detriment to tourism.
- Florida’s net population grows by 750 people each day. With the rising costs of housing, all of Florida’s workers are finding it more and more difficult to buy a house in a good neighborhood and still be able to afford gas to get them to work.
- Cuba, with the help of China, has recently sought to commence drilling for oil just 45 miles away from Key West.
Florida’s ambivalence to offshore drilling has been the epitome of the “not in my backyard” philosophy. So long as the state maintains this attitude, its residents have no one to blame but themselves for high gas prices and the detrimental effects they have on tourism, the very industry purportedly being saved by opposition to drilling. As stated, if Florida does not tap into the bounty of the Gulf, Cuba will. The communist country can only be expected to redouble its efforts in light of recent finds by Chevron and other oil companies of vast pools of oil in the Gulf. It is ironic that a communist government will choose to profit from natural resources where a capitalist state dare not.
It is a mistake for Florida to turn its back on oil drilling. Such contracts would be profitable and, presuming precautions are taken and oversight is provided, would not be a detriment to the environment. Oil drilling can be and is done every day in a safe and responsible way with minimal risk of accidents.
In light of the strong opposition Florida politicians mount against oil drilling, it is doubtful that much of the untapped resources of the Gulf will be exploited anytime soon. Will the state and the country get by OK without it? Of course. But Floridians will have no one else to blame for $3.00 per gallon gasoline but themselves.
As they shell out more and more for fuel, one hopes that Floridians will truly take the time to appreciate the environment they believe they are preserving. In the end, they may not be able to afford to drive, but at least they will have pristine scenery to look at.
Josh Smith is a telecommunications data analyst and aspiring writer. He is a regular contributor to the political debate on http://www.PolitiPoll.net.