Posted: June 08, 2010

I like Rep. Dean Cannon – he’s smart, and a good person, but he has lost all credibility on the issue of oil drilling.

As you probably know, Rep. Cannon spearheaded the effort to drill just 3 miles off our coast. His efforts were buoyed by what has now proved to be bogus testimony and research.

In light of ‘Deepwater Horizon’, Rep. Cannon has backed off, but his past actions give us no reason to believe he or his allies won’t try again. The rig explosion and massive oil spill in the Timor Sea last year didn’t slow them down. Independent studies and the views of actual experts were previously ignored. So when this current disaster finally falls off the front pages of our newspapers, why shouldn’t we expect the maneuvering to begin again?

If Rep. Cannon is serious about tabling the issue, he’ll join me, Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, Sen. Dan Gelber, and the rest of my colleagues in putting language on this year’s ballot calling for a constitutional ban of oil exploration and drilling in Florida’s territorial waters. To those who say a special session costs too much, I say an oil spill 3 miles off our coast will cost even more. To those who say let’s focus on responding to this crisis before worrying about the future, I say we are public servants who should be capable of doing more than one thing at a time for our constituents.