FAQs

FLORIDA’S STATE WATERS EXTEND APPROXIMATELY THREE MILES INTO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN AND 10 MILES INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO. IF THE PETITION EFFORT SUCCEEDS, FLORIDIANS WILL BE ALLOWED THE CHANCE TO BAN OIL DRILLING IN STATE WATERS IN NOVEMBER 2012. FLORIDA’S NUMBER ONE ECONOMIC DRIVER IS TOURISM. MILLIONS OF TOURISTS PUMP APPROXIMATELY $50 BILLION PER YEAR INTO OUR STATE. SOILED BEACHES MEANS FEWER VISITORS AND FEWER JOBS FOR FLORIDIANS.

WHILE OIL DRILLING IS PRESENTLY PROHIBITED BY STATE LAW, THAT LAW CAN BE CHANGED AT ANY TIME BY POLITICIANS IN THE LEGISLATURE. INDEED, IN 2009, LEGISLATORS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APPROVED LIFTING THE BAN. WE CAN ONLY SECURE THE NEAR-SHORE WATERS BY ALLOWING THE PEOPLE OF FLORIDA TO VOTE. ONCE IN THE CONSTITUTION, ONLY THE PEOPLE WILL BE ABLE TO CHANGE IT, NOT THE POLITICIANS. THIS IS NOT A REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRATIC ISSUE – IT IS A FLORIDA ISSUE.

THIS BAN WILL NOT IMPACT, IN ANY WAY, THE PRESENT OIL DRILLING OPERATIONS IN FEDERAL WATERS; IT WILL SIMPLY PROTECT THE WATERS NEXT TO OUR COASTLINES.

THE BP DEEPWATER HORIZON DISASTER CLEARLY SHOWED US THAT OIL DRILLING IS NOT SAFE. IF THAT CATASTROPHE HAD HAPPENED ON THE COAST, IN FLORIDA WATERS, OUR ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT WOULD HAVE SUFFERED A DEVASTATING BLOW. A NEAR-SHORE DRILLING BAN WILL STOP THAT POSSIBILITY.

DOES AN OIL BAN BELONG IN THE CONSTITUTION? YES. ONLY ISSUES OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE SHOULD BE IN THE STATE CONSTITUTION, AND OIL DRILLING IS ONE OF THOSE. THE PEOPLE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO VOTE ON WHETHER FLORIDA WILL CONTINUE AS A MAJOR TOURIST DESTINATION KNOWN FOR ITS NATURAL BEAUTY.

AS OUR WORLD-RENOWNED BEACHES ARE THE VERY ESSENCE OF FLORIDA, PROTECTION OF THE BEACHES BELONGS IN THE CONSTITUTION.