I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer to H.R. 1231 an amendment that would make the current ban on drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico permanent. This amendment would not have any effect on the budget as scored by the Congressional Budget Office. However, it would have a significant impact on the economy of Florida, given that the State's tourist industry will be protected from future oil spills which could destroy our beautiful beaches and coastal areas. Certainly, Florida's coastline is a treasure, not just for Floridians but for all Americans and people throughout the world. For years, the Florida delegation has worked together to protect our coastline and natural resources, and as long as those rigs are in this area, the potential for devastation to Florida beaches persists
If an accident was to occur causing oil to wash ashore and to Florida beaches, both the environmental and the economic damage would be devastating to the State. And following the disaster off of Louisiana's gulf coast last year, we saw a quick glimpse of what could happen to Florida's economy in the event of an oil spill
I toured the region by helicopter last year and witnessed the devastation firsthand. That said, before any new areas are opened and Florida's pristine beaches are put at risk, I would very much like to see drilling in the areas that are already open and increased funding for research for new technology
I strongly believe that any drilling off of Florida's gulf coast would be extremely deterrent to the State economy and ecosystem. As we saw in the BP oil spill last year in the Gulf of Mexico, wherein 11 workers died and an estimated 5 million barrels of crude oil poured into the Gulf of Mexico, the risks of drilling oil off of Florida's shores bring about extreme risk to our State in an already depressed economy, and with unemployment in the State of Florida still hovering at 11 percent, the last thing we need is to endanger nearly 1 million tourist-related jobs and the $60 billion tourist industry in the Sunshine State
Drilling off the coast of Florida is a misguided miscalculation. The risk of danger to the environment and the economy greatly outweighs any potential benefits. I would very much like to see increased drilling in areas already open and increased funding for research for new technology
More than 20 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, we have yet to clean up Prince William Sound in Alaska. Oil is still being found buried in sand from the BP oil spill
The frequent occurrence of extreme weather that the eastern gulf coast experiences, including hurricanes and severe storms, could easily produce an oil spill, even with the technological improvements in oil and natural gas operations. Storms along the gulf coast in 2005 caused 124 oil spills in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Katrina caused a 233,000 gallon oil spill, and Hurricane Rita worsened the damage with 508,000 gallons of oil spilled. If these rigs were in the gulf coast, our beaches would face complete destruction. As we have seen recently, cleanup methods for these spills are incapable of removing more than a small fraction of the oil.
In addition, from the BP oil spill alone, Florida has over 284,000 claims with only 117,000 paid. That is less than half, for a total of over $1.45 billion. For the total gulf region, there have been 10,000 fishing claims, 122,000 food and lodging claims, 74,000 retail and sales claims, and a total of $1.6 billion paid on even more lost earnings and wages. We cannot afford another disaster of this magnitude. With more drilling, we still are living on borrowed time. Support the Corrine Brown amendment.