TC Palm Newspapers: Oil Industry Greases Votes At Florida Legislature
Editorial Board
Treasure Coast Palm Newspapers
Oct 23, 2009
The oil industry's money machine is pumping money into the state Legislature in an effort to open drilling within three miles of Florida’s coast.
Covering their bets, Florida Energy Associates, a consortium of oil and gas companies, spread $125,000 to the state’s Republican and Democratic parties during the first quarter. By sending so-called “soft money” to the parties, the oilmen can exceed the $500-per-candidate contribution cap.
Will it pay off? The lobbying effort is just getting started, but key lawmakers are already lining up.
State Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, says he will sponsor the drilling legislation in the Senate. Haridopolos, whose district spans most of Indian River County, has long said he will accept contributions from anyone, as long as those contributions are made public.
Slated to become Senate president in 2011, Haridopolos wields influence with his peers.
So does Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, who plans to carry the industry’s legislation on the House side. Cannon is expected to become House speaker in 2011.
In addition to the cash contributions, Florida Energy Associates is deploying 30 lobbyists to work the halls and watering holes in Tallahassee.
“They wouldn’t do it if they didn’t think it made a difference,” Common Cause Florida Chairman Ben Wilcox told the Tampa Tribune.
Or, as Doug Daniels, chief operating officer of the Associates, put it: “You’ve got to take care of your friends.”
The problem with all this is the environmental and economic threat that offshore drilling poses to Florida. Anyone who’s visited Gulf Coast communities in Texas and Louisiana can attest to the oily aroma and tarballs that come with such operations.
In worst-case scenarios — which do happen — oil spills kill wildlife and pollute beaches. That could be an absolute killer to Florida’s $65-billion-a-year tourism industry, which dwarfs whatever revenues the state might gain from drilling.
Gov. Charlie Crist, a professed environmentalist who jets off to “green” summits and has sponsored a few, could fire a shot across the bow of the oil industry behemoth by declaring his unalterable opposition to expanded drilling. Crist’s position is crucial, since he would sign or veto whatever bill emerges from the 2010 Legislature.
At this juncture, silence from the governor’s office leaves a leadership vacuum and effectively encourages the Associates and their growing phalanx of “friends” at the Capitol.