[sargon]

Bachmann suggestion of Everglades drilling

As a South Floridian, I can only say this:

1. Floridians would overwhelmingly oppose any drilling in the Everglades. It is probably the case that a catastrophic oil drilling accident which occurred in the Everglades would be an environmental disaster of monumental proportions, at least for the state.
2. Many Floridians, myself included, are entirely open to oil drilling in the Atlantic ocean anywhere along the Florida coast. Ocean oil spills would be entirely manageable. I'm a staunch libertarian on this issue.
3. Since the entire southern portion of the state, meaning the vast majority of the Everglades, is either State or National Park, Wildlife Refuge, Wildlife Management Area, etc., no oil drilling would ever be likely to occur in the Everglades in any event.
4. This is an obvious blunder for Bachmann, inasmuch as it clearly indicates that she doesn't understand our Florida ecosystem, nor the general protective attitude of its citizens towards it, including me. Again, I say this as a staunch libertarian, but it makes me think she's not ready for prime time.

[sargon]

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.

[DManA]

She’s gotta learn to be smart and pick her battles better.

[GladesGuru]

“It is probably the case that a catastrophic oil drilling accident which occurred in the Everglades would be an environmental disaster of monumental proportions, at least for the state.”

In which alternative universe would such a straw dog of a hypothesized spill be an environmental disaster of monumental proportions?

Calm thy self and do try to remember that when the Everglades lawn dart crashed when full of fuel just after taking off, the area of “impact” was minimal and some 20,000+ pounds was slammed into a very small area.

The impact was in an area I had been in before. After a few months had passed, it looked the same as it had previous to the crash.

So much for “hydrocarbon caused monumental disaster” syndrome.