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.
I am also in Allen West's district, which has the unfortunate coincidence of making Debbie Blabbermouth Slut's district next to me.
The refuge extends across 144,000 acres of what remains of the northern reaches of the Everglades.
In addition to providing vital habitat for more than 257 species of birds, along with a large population of alligators, the refuge also is one of the three Everglades water conservation areas where levees help contain stormwater that supplements regional supplies.
Those conservation areas stretch across western Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, feeding water into drainage canals that spread throughout South Florida. Water in those canals helps boost groundwater levels, which helps stop saltwater from seeping into freshwater supplies.
Water from conservation areas also can seep its way into the aquifers that provide 90 percent of South Florida’s drinking water.
It’s simply a cryin’ shame that we can’t make liberals experience the consequences of their ideology here and now without the rest of us having to live it as well.
Oppose energy developement? Bam! you live in a cold, unlit cave for a year.
Support “diversity”? Bam! you live in the inner city for a year.
Want higher taxes? Bam! your individual tax rate is now 90% for the year.
“Like most Michiganders, I’m pretty protective of the great lakes but I support safe and responsible directional drilling under them.”
You mean safe and responsible like BP in the Gulf of Mexico? I would NEVER allow drilling under the Great Lakes,,,”safe and responsible” or otherwise. They are our greatest source of what little is left of fresh water on this planet,,,so sure, lets let oil companies drill under them so an accident can happen. Good grief. Corporations get a lot of unfair bashing, but face it, their bottom line is to cut corners to make a buck. And they would cut corners on safety. As for Bachmann wanting to drill in the Everglades,,,she is bat sh*t nuts.
What part of directional drilling don’t you get?
Here’s a clue, it means drilling from shore.
huh! that’s funny.
I suppose they do.
The water crisis in Texas, the biggest oil- and gas- producing state in the U.S., highlights a continuing debate in North America and Europe over the impact on water supplies of a production technique called hydraulic fracturing. Environmental groups are concerned the so-called fracking method may pose a contamination threat, while farmers in arid regions like south Texas face growing competition for scarce water.
So we are gonna pit farmers against oil companies. How about more drilling in unpopulated areas in Alaska? I’m just never gonna be for drilling in the Everglades.
I've done plenty of field work on oil/gas/pipeline facilities that have cattle guards and have field irrigation systems nearby.
Ranchers say water for fracking isnt the problem
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/08/19/ranchers-say-water-for-fracking-isnt-the-problem/
Hydraulic Fracturing has been done here for 6 decades. We don't need environmentalists trying to scare up false claims. We are not new to working together.
As a South Floridian, I can only say this:
To followup, I myself was unaware of any oil drilling in or near the Everglades, and suffice it to say that any widespread or large-scale drilling would be overwhelmingly opposed by the citizens of the state, with good reason, and political suicide, in my libertarian opinion. The Everglades is the core of the entire Florida ecosystem, and any oil-related disaster there would be very risky to the health of the entire State economy, and I believe that there is near unanimity among the state citizenry on this issue.
Yep, been their for decades without problems. But don't let that cloud your vision of how bad drilling would obviously be.
So much for your “near unanimity”.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9PCJ5FG0&show_article=1
“The crowd at the upscale retirement community cheered wildly.”
there are and they have look into drilling wells to see what is there for years.
Why is nobody investigating wasserman shulz’s connections to her sister and brother in law politicians. They have a family corruption government enterprise.
Any large scale use of the Everglades for oil drilling would be widely opposed. There is simply no doubt about that in my mind, as a 46-year resident since my birth.
The fact that large-scale or widespread oil operations would never occur is the only thing that saves Bachmann here.
Let any Presidential candidate try to make a big public issue about the topic and see what happens to them in Florida... it's political suicide.
most people in florida do not care about the everglades if the even see it. The only time it is seen is during a flyover or if driving across aligator alley.
There is not as much opposition as you would think.
People still talk about the super mega screw up of the miami politicians when they rejected disneyworld.
The major concern from environmentalists is of further human and industrial incursions into this delicate ecosystem.
I would venture to say that the "major concern" of "further human and industrial incursions into this delicate ecosystem" extends to the general citizenry of the state, not just so-called environmentalists.
Like I said, widespread or large-scale drilling in the Everglades simply will never happen, and Bachmann should just move on from the issue...
Pennsuco was on old maps. If you posted a pin on the site today it would be approx. where the Fla. Turnpike Ext. Meets US 27. Another odd fact is the Large coral stone house near by belonged to the family of EX- Gov. Bob Graham. It may still be there. It was the center of “Graham’s Dairy”.
Take a Look.
http://books.google.com/books?id=pqPcan5hNV0C&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=pennsuco+pipeline&source=bl&ots=mKh207zBKh&sig=qhlzn9eLRp1dmPVvTYwJYuoF_3Q&hl=en&ei=XhBcTvH4O4WbtwfOmNCnDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false
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