The Hill: Florida's Congressional Delegation is Opposing the Energy Conference Bill

10/13/2003

From: Sarita Chourey, 202-628-8625 Mary Lynn F. Jones, 703-244-2368, both of The Hill

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 -- Florida's congressional delegation is opposing the energy conference bill based on an amendment that appeared in neither the House nor Senate version, Sarita Chourey reports in the Oct. 14 issue of The Hill. "There will definitely be fallout" next year for the president (who won Florida by 537 votes in the 2000 election) if he signs an bill that includes the OCS amendment, said Rep Jim Davis (D-Fla.).

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By Sarita Chourey

The energy bill conference is facing new obstacles - this time from almost the entire Florida delegation, which opposes an amendment that would trigger an assessment of oil reserves in an area they consider sacrosanct.

The amendment also could have broader political implications for President Bush's electoral chances in Florida, with its crucial 27 Electoral College votes.

The measure, which staffers have called a "mystery amendment" because it did not appear in either the House or Senate version of the bill, calls for a resource inventory of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

"There will definitely be fallout" next year for the president (who won Florida by 537 votes in the 2000 election) if he signs an bill that includes the OCS amendment, said Rep Jim Davis (D-Fla.).

Davis added: "Floridians are heavily opposed to this... We're all doing our job - jealously protecting our coast. We enjoy clean beaches. Floridians like being in the water, and there's a lot of recreation and commerce surrounding the beaches. Floridians do not take kindly to any risk to our beaches. In a close election, this could make a difference."

Opponents of drilling say the amendment is the proverbial camel's nose under the tent, and will inevitably lead to drilling in the environmentally sensitive region. The shelf runs round the Florida coast, stretching out three miles from the shore on the Atlantic side and 10 miles in the Gulf of Mexico.

Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.), who last week called preserving the moratorium on offshore drilling "a top priority for Florida," has led the delegation's campaign to defeat the amendment.

Julie Almacy, Goss's communications director, said the OCS amendment "could be considered a deal-breaker for the Florida delegation" and could stall the energy bill. She added, "Hopefully this issue will be resolved before it comes to a vote."

Rep. Clay Shaw (R-Fla.) warned, "If the vote count is close on the energy bill, the leadership better get in a huddle with us in Florida to sort it all out."

Mark Ferrulo, director of the nonpartisan Florida Public Interest Research Group, predicted that Bush will lose Florida if he approves the measure. He likened the signing of legislation that would lead to OCS drilling to "drinking political arsenic."

Davis said: "I am hoping Florida's significance in the presidential election will convince the president to do what's right, to honor the House position and remove the provision that moves Florida closer to drilling off its coast."

But Shaw said it was unclear at this point how much of a backlash the president would feel from Floridian voters if he signed an energy bill with the OCS amendment.

The OCS amendment was struck down in the House version of the energy bill, but sources said Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), who co-chairs the conference with Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), reinserted it. Bipartisan efforts by Florida's delegation to kill the amendment would shield the president from choosing between two equally dangerous political choices: vetoing the energy bill or signing it, despite an amendment that most agree would lead to drilling off Florida's shores. Davis said, "I don't know why the president's friends are putting him in this position."

The political firestorm is real, but Shirley Neff, former chief economist for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, called concern over the amendment's actual effects on beaches "much ado about nothing." She said, "People in the oil and gas industry think this is a huge breakthrough," but in reality, inventories of this nature are conducted quite frequently. Neff explained, "It's overblown. People from certain states are trying to gin it up, but there's no (substance)."

The Florida delegation's effort has gained a formidable ally, the state's governor and president's brother Jeb Bush (R).

Ferrulo said: "Jeb Bush is first and foremost a Floridian. He is looking out for the economic interests of Florida. One of the first decisions he made was to uphold the state of Florida's opposition to Chevron's efforts to drill off Florida's coast. In many respects, Gov. Bush has been a stronger opponent to offshore drilling than (his Democratic predecessor) Lawton Chiles."

In a letter to House and Senate leadership, signed by all but one lawmaker in the Florida delegation, the members said: "Due to the importance our constituents place on protecting Florida's beaches, it would be difficult for our delegation to support an energy bill that includes any language authorizing an inventory of OCS resources."

Rep. John Mica (R) is the only member of the Florida delegation who did not sign the letter. His brother is the executive director of the Florida Petroleum Council, which promotes domestic oil drilling.

Almost 100 lawmakers from Florida and other states affected by the amendment wrote last month to Domenici and Tauzin urging removal of the inventory provision.

Gov. Jeb Bush, who sent his own letter to congressional leadership at the end of September, wrote: "Florida's economy is highly dependent upon tourism and other resource-based activities, particularly those related to the marine and coastal environment. ... Strong resistance to offshore drilling continues among our state's residents and within Florida's congressional delegation."