DRILL, BABY, DRILL? Oil, gas money flows in Florida as offshore drilling debate looms

A plan to begin offshore drilling as close as three miles from the Florida coast stalled in the legislature this year, but energy interests aren't taking no for an answer.

The Tampa Bay Tribune reports that oil and gas companies have ramped-up their political contributions to the Democratic and Republican parties:

Florida Energy Associates, a mostly anonymous group of oil and gascompanies that want to drill off Florida's Gulf coast, has contributed$125,000 this year. The biggest chunk - $75,000 - went to the stateRepublican Party. The Democratic Party received the remaining $50,000.

Why give the cash to the parties instead of individual candidates? One, contributions to parties is "soft money," and there not subject to campaign finance limits.

But the energy interests are also doing it because, as they candidly admit, gifts to individual legislators can make it appear like they're trying to buy influence:

Doug Daniels, chief operating officer for Florida Energy Associates,said spending on the major parties is preferable to concentrating onindividual campaigns because the candidates "would have the difficultyof trying to explain why they're taking a contribution from anorganization like that. ... A contribution to the process is notsingling somebody out."

Interestingly, the Orlando Sun Sentinel notes that offshore drilling is being pushed more as a way to boost tax revenues for the state's sagging economy than as a plan to meet energy needs. But in an editorial, the paper argues that a recent report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association -- which stated NOAA was "very concerned" about the impact on marine life and the fishing industry -- shows the long-term risks far outweigh the benefits:

The alarm sounded by an experienced, scientific voice like NOAA alsounderscores the need for Florida's Legislature to cool its impulse toplunder the seas in search of a way to pay the bills. The state'seconomy, and its budget, is in a bad way, and the search for newrevenue streams, and new job markets, is a healthy one.

But the lasting dangers of oil drilling, validated by a measured agencyof NOAA's stature, are too menacing to ignore, especially for a statethat prizes, and banks on, its pristine beaches and reefs. At the veryleast, the concerns deserve thorough study before imperiling Florida'senvironmental future with an impulsive quest for cash.

Florida isn't the only state that will see these debates: The Department of Interior's draft leasing plan for 2010-2015 would open up new drilling areas off the Arctic coast, the Atlantic seaboard, and the Gulf of Mexico.