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Gubernatorial Candidates Say No to Near Shore Drilling

By Trimmel Gomes

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-882571.mp3

Tallahassee, FL – Florida's gubernatorial candidates all seem to have one thing in common when it comes to offshore drilling. They're all skeptical as to whether it could be pulled off.

Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Republican candidate for Governor, says he's against the proposal to allow oil and gas exploration as close as three miles to Florida's shores.

"Five miles out there is not very far. You look out there and see it's not far enough, and you take an opportunity for an oil spill of any size like what's off the coast of Australia. It would just completely terrorize our beaches in terms of travel and tourism and the basic industries we've got for the west coast. That's a risk that I'm not willing to take."

House Republicans are pushing to lift Florida's twenty-year ban on drilling, saying along with other supporters that the state could earn $2-billion annually by opening its shores.

McCollum's Republican rival, State Senator Paula Dockery, holds the same skepticism, saying the devil is in the details. Democrat Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink says she is opposed to the plan because she's not sure who is trying to ram it through the legislature.