Florida Senate - 2020                            (NP)    SR 1922
       
       
        
       By Senator Farmer
       
       
       
       
       
       34-03725-20                                           20201922__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution expressing the Senate’s opposition to the
    3         Federal Government’s interest in using harmful
    4         offshore oil and gas drilling and exploration
    5         practices off the Florida coast.
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, the Federal Government has expressed interest in
    8  opening the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern portion of the Gulf
    9  of Mexico to offshore oil and gas exploration and development,
   10  including plans to use risky methods such as seismic airgun
   11  blasting, and
   12         WHEREAS, seismic airguns fire intense blasts of compressed
   13  air, one of the loudest manmade sounds in the ocean, every 10-12
   14  seconds for days, weeks, or months on end, and
   15         WHEREAS, seismic airgun noise has been shown to harm and
   16  injure dolphins, whales, endangered sea turtles, fish, and other
   17  marine life, and
   18         WHEREAS, exploratory and commercial drilling and the
   19  extraction and transportation of offshore oil and gas resources
   20  pose significant risks of oil spills and chronic leakage to this
   21  state, and
   22         WHEREAS, eventual offshore drilling may require significant
   23  onshore infrastructure, such as pipelines or refineries, which
   24  would harm the character of the Florida coast, and
   25         WHEREAS, offshore drilling activities threaten this state’s
   26  treasured vacation destinations along the Florida coast which
   27  are of intrinsic economic value to numerous industries, and such
   28  activities threaten the essential nursery habitats for
   29  recreational and commercially important fisheries and the
   30  natural buffers from storm surge and hurricanes which such areas
   31  provide, and
   32         WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that the tourism and
   33  fishing industries, which depend on a healthy and vibrant
   34  coastal environment, both serve as major economic drivers
   35  benefiting current and future residents, property owners, and
   36  visitors to this state, and
   37         WHEREAS, the Legislature endeavors to be a good steward of
   38  this state’s environment and its resources, and
   39         WHEREAS, the exploration and development of oil and gas
   40  resources off the Florida coast will not effectively address the
   41  long-term energy needs of our country, and
   42         WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that it would be more
   43  economically and ecologically responsible to pursue nonpolluting
   44  sources of renewable energy, such as solar and wind, which pose
   45  less risk to the coastal environment and economic health, before
   46  using uncertain methods of seismic airgun blasting to explore
   47  and develop offshore oil and gas deposits, NOW, THEREFORE,
   48  
   49  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   50  
   51         That the Senate recognizes that offshore oil and gas
   52  drilling and exploration, including seismic airgun blasting,
   53  will put this state’s environment, beaches, marine resources,
   54  and local economies at risk and expresses its opposition to the
   55  Federal Government’s interest in pursuing such practices off the
   56  Florida coast.