Florida Politics19 Dec 2020 11:15
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/389793-delegation-for-12-18-20-relief-deal-russian-hack-anti-semitism-wetlands-georgia
Stopping Bahama drilling
Offshore drilling has long unified Florida’s politicians regardless of party. The Democratic co-chair for the Delegation has sounded the alarm on oil exploration in the nearby Bahamas.
Tamarac Democrat Hastings wrote a letter this week to Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Alexander Minnis to its environmental minister, Romauld Sotario Ferreira. He expresses grave concerns about plans by the Bahamas Petroleum Company to drill about 150 miles from South Florida.
“As coastal and near-coastal Members of Congress, we have long fought to prevent oil spills, but the success of this work is directly dependent on the cooperation of other states, our federal government, and nearby nations,” he said. “We and countless Americans remember the devastation and loss of life caused by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, for which Florida continues to require restoration funding. That well, similar to that which BPC plans to bore, claimed 11 lives and spewed more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, destroying whole ecosystems and halting tourism and fisheries across the region.”
Alcee Hastings is calling for a stop to deepwater drilling in the Bahamas. Image via AP.
The Democrat made note that Trump extended a ban on drilling near Florida, and suggested in the event of a disaster that the U.S. would have to clean up the mess. It cost $65 billion to clean up the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
A total of 17 other House members along the Eastern Seaboard signed on to the letter, but only one Republican, Naples’ Francis Rooney. Other Florida members signed on include Deutch, Castor, Soto, Crist, Wasserman Schultz, Frankel, Lawson, Mucarsel-Powell, and Donna Shalala.
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