I never thought I'd ever choose sides on an environmental issue but I agree with going green and ending our dependence on carbon based products with a big period. The days of big oil and carbon based fuels are over. We are affecting our planet with our greed for cheap oil. Big Oil needs a big push right out the door and they can take their green house gases with them. When the politicians encourage tax incentives to modernize my house to use solar and wind energy that sells excess capacity back to the grid, that incentivizes rain capture for gardening and sewage, and to build homes and offices using energy efficient materials,…as is declared at the poker table knowing you have the winning hand; I'm all in!! I'm also going to buy the first car using hybrid battery and alternative propulsion technology and I’m a big proponent for mass transit. I've lived and worked in Europe and used their mass transit systems and they are efficient in terms of delivery and cost avoidance. I've already written Congresswoman Ros-Lethinen, Senators Nelson and Martinez about my preferences and I suggest others who agree with me do the same. We need to steer this countries resources into a new direction to achieve the moral high ground, the entrepreneurial, technological, and innovative superiority in the Global marketplace regarding renewable energy manufacturing and export. Carbon based manufacturers, refiners, and producers may offer alternatives but they need to be put on the substitute bench. Anyone who says otherwise is a selfish fool who doesn't care about this generation’s or their children's futures. JFK

Being in such proximity to the drilling, perhaps the Keys will benefit from the jobs that will be created. Some of the Marine Biology and other marine studies students at FKCC may get the chance to put into practice what they are learning w/o having to leave the area. Anytime commerce and industry can be established in a responsible way in our neighborhood it can only be helpful to the residents. And, because the Keys lie in a protected area, the drilling will NOT be anywhere near 3 miles out. It will likely be 15+ miles out--farther than the eye can see.

Once Cuba opens up there will drilling off the Florida Keys. The Florida Keys needs new representation in Tallahassee and Washington if we are to have a future. It will soon be our environment's turn to be raped in the name of pie in the sky "jobs and money." The politicians are diverting our attention to recycling, solar energy and the swine flu to keep us away from the truth. Instead of drilling for oil why isn't that money going to further developing alternative fuels, provide incentives for taxpayers to purchase alternative fuel vehicles and incentives for homeowners to install solar energy? Why is Tallahassee making it so hard for the Keys to get something as simple as sewers done? Please people, get involved before they kill paradise.

PURE BS:

Drilling could not occur immediately off the Florida Keys as it is protected by the federal government through the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. However, oil leaks and spills off the Panhandle could reach the Keys via strong Gulf of Mexico currents and affect fish populations that migrate between there and the Keys.

MYTH: Drilling offshore will lead to ocean spillage, damaging wildlife and beaches.

FACT: In fact, virtually all of the pollution and “spillage” comes from large tankers transporting oil from other countries and natural seepages. Thus, drilling for our American oil would actually reduce the risk of oil pollution by reducing the number of international oil tankers entering our ports. Offshore spills have occurred, but offshore drilling companies have an exceptional record of preventing spills and minimizing environmental damage, due primarily to technological innovation. Norway, which is a major exporter of oil and acquires all of it from offshore, also has an outstanding record of drilling in the sea, and there’s no reason why we would take fewer precautions than the Norwegians. Everyone promoting offshore drilling wants to do it in compliance with environmental safeguards, which in the United States are some of the most stringent in the world. This is unlike other nations, such as China, which announced a partnership with Cuba in 2006 to start drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. That nation’s dismal environmental record should force Congress to make a decision: Do we let another nation drill for oil near us and risk major environmental catastrophe, or do we do it ourselves with better environmental protection?

MYTH: Oil companies currently have 68 million acres of leased public lands that contain large amounts of economically recoverable oil available. Drilling in these areas could generate 4.8 million barrels a day so opening up more land is not necessary.

FACT: The estimates on the amount of oil available in those 68 million acres have been derived by assuming that the unused acres can produce the same amount as those acres being used. However, much of the land leased to oil companies has already been explored and determined not to carry enough recoverable oil to justify drilling. This is in stark contrast to the other 97% of currently banned offshore resources and areas with shale oil, where enormous quantities are known to exist. That opponents to greater U.S. exploration believe they understand better than petroleum engineers how we obtain oil from drilling is absolutely ridiculous.

MYTH: Drilling will not provide any short-term relief in the price of oil because it will take many years before new drilling will lead to new supplies.

FACT: This same argument has been used for the past several decades to prevent us from using more of our American oil, leading to our current dependence on foreign oil and the supply crunch we are currently experiencing. Does this mean critics of greater American energy exploration were wrong 10 years ago, 20 years ago, and 30 years ago but are suddenly right today now? Drilling more now will increase supplies in the future. And higher supplies lead to lower prices. Currently, the world is operating at or near full capacity, so there is very little slack in the system, and any disruption causes spike in price. This is partly why commodities and other investors have invested so heavily in oil, driving up prices. They recognize demand will continue to increase and that current supply has artificial limits, especially in the United States. Opening up new oil fields in the U.S., even if new supplies won’t actually reach our gas tank for several years, would immediately impact the amount of upward speculation on long-term commodity investment in oil. Oil speculators will see a greater supply ahead and will see that the future of oil is less constrained on the supply side. Moreover, fears of Middle Eastern turmoil or South American unrest that could disrupt supply shipments will be much less of a reason to drive up the price of crude if a stable U.S. can supply millions of barrels of additional oil. Which represents a more stable source of oil, Colorado or Caracas? Finally, nobody is suggesting that our nation’s energy strategy should be solely dependent on domestic production of oil. We all recognize that alternative energy sources – such as wind and solar - need to be developed. But more American oil must be a part of an American energy solution.

MYTH: The U.S. only has a small percentage (from 2-6%) of the world’s oil supplies, and since oil is a global commodity, our increased production won’t affect prices much if at all.

FACT: This estimate of 2-6% of the world’s oil supplies does not hold up to scrutiny. In oil shale alone, found in the Green River Formation in parts of Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming, the U.S. has approximately 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil, or over three times the proven reserves of Saudi Arabia. This comes from a midpoint estimate in a 2005 RAND study done at the request of the Department of Energy, and a higher end estimate puts the number at over one trillion barrels. Furthermore, there are vast areas of the United States and its outer continental shelf where it is illegal to even look for oil. Exploration routinely yields additional resources far larger than initial estimates. Resources from oil shale and additional oil resources that are likely to be discovered are not included in the estimates of American oil supplies.