Posted on 08/29/2011 11:40:40 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Wasserman Schultz attacks Bachmann suggestion of Everglades drilling By Michael O'Brien - 08/29/11 01:28 PM ET
Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), thwacked Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) for saying she would consider allowing fossil fuel exploration in the Everglades.
Wasserman Schultz seized on comments by Bachmann, a Republican presidential candidate, suggesting she would allow exploration for oil or natural gas in the preserved Florida areas if it could be done responsibly.
"We need to look forward and invest in the future, and we wont get there with unthinkable, reckless and irresponsible Republican proposals like drilling for oil in the Everglades," Wasserman Schultz said Monday in a statement. "As a Floridian, I can see that Michele Bachmann's outrageous proposal to drill for oil and natural gas in the Everglades, demonstrates just how out of touch Republicans are with the needs of Floridians and all Americans."
Bachmann raised the possibility of allowing exploration in the Everglades during a video interview Sunday with The Associated Press.
"The United States needs to be less dependent on foreign sources of energy, and more dependent on American resourcefulness," Bachmann told the AP. "Whether that is in the Everglades or whether that is in the eastern Gulf region or whether that is in North Dakota, we need to go over the energy rules."
The congresswoman, a Tea Party favorite, has made energy a key element of her campaign trail rhetoric as she pursues the Republican presidential nomination. Bachmann vowed earlier this month in South Carolina that, were she elected, the price of gasoline would fall to less than $2 per gallon. She didn't back down from that remark.
Bachmann said that her approval of drilling in the Everglades or anywhere else would depend on whether she thought it could be done responsibly.
"If we can't responsibly access energy in the Everglades, then we shouldn't do it," she said. "No one wants to hurt or contaminate the earth. We don't want to harm our water ... From there, though, that doesn't mean that the two have to be mutually exclusive. We can protect the environment, and do so responsibly, but we can also protect the environment and not kill jobs in America, and not deny ourselves access to the energy resources that America's been so blessed with."
The issue of offshore drilling has always been a touchy political issue in Florida, where the tourism industry depends on clean beaches. That industry was jeopardized last year as a result of the BP oil spill off the coast of Louisiana, the effects of which extended to Florida. Support for drilling offshore in Florida, in the past, has often hinged on its distance from the shore.
That makes Bachmann's comments even more politically thorny, given Florida's status as both a key primary state and a key swing state in the general election.
"Michele Bachmanns latest proposal to drill in the Florida Everglades is just another example of the Republican Party supporting policies that would only further enrich the special interests, while putting our environment and working families at risk," the Wasserman Schultz said.
Is there any indication that there is oil under the everglades? Seems to me she blundered into an obvious trap there.
Washerwoman is such a deep thinker. What is her expertise on drilling or energy development?
Pray for America
Hey Debbie, put a tampon in it.
Well Debbiekins, how are “working families” supposed to GET to work, if gas costs $10/gallon because the environazis have declared the USA off limits to oil production?/s
Good one!
:-)
This little Commie hillbillie speaks for ALL Americans? I think not! Go Michelle! The Conservatives, no matter the party, have better sense, proven methods,and wiser plans than any moderate or leftist Democrat.
I like Michele, but she does have a penchant for saying politically dumb things in the process of making valid points.
Just like sex, I’m for safe and responsible drilling.
She really is an excellent representation of that sorry lot, isn't she?
All liberals who oppose oil drilling should be forced to go everywhere by bicycle.
What’s “politically dumb” about exploring for domestic oil and gas? Somebody should tell Debbie Blabbermouth Schultz that she’s just a horrible, angry, stupid person.
She has no control over her mouth. Why would you even mention specific places? And, of all places, the Everglades. Why won’t you say that we need to drill where it can be done safely and where there are proven reserves.
Wassermam’s face would scare an alligator.
“Obvious trap”? What are you talking about? Are you against domestic oil and gas production?
This is beyond scripting. This is plain dumb politically speaking to bring up drilling in the Everglades. Let us drill in the low hanging fruit areas first. For goodness sakes, don’t this woman have any sense of national politics?
Peninsular Oil & Refining, later part of ExxonMobil, discovered oil in southern Florida in 1943. Since then, the Sunniland trend underneath the Big Cypress preserve has yielded about 110 mm barrels of oil
They beat up President Bush and Fred Thompson about the same issue.
http://www.gasandoil.com/news/n_america/fef987f801da3e5cc36e5e83e73ba98d
Jun 13, 2001
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297228,00.html
September 18, 2007
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