Florida Denies Voters Chance To Decide Their Drilling Future

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist used to champion offshore drilling. He also used to be a Republican.

Some 5.4 million barrels of oil later, he has changed his tune on both charges. Now, he has shifted with the majority of Floridians, as polls show, and is passionately calling for a state ban on offshore drilling as close as three miles from the state's beautiful beaches. He has faced derisive charges of political flip-flopping in the name of his reelection campaign, but, in this case, he has flopped to the right side of history. His state's coastal economy under siege, who wouldn't choose to rationally reexamine his chants of Drill, Baby, Drill?

The answer, but of course, is a good chunk of the Florida state legislature. Amid a protest rally outside the state capitol yesterday, representatives rapidly dispatched a democratic approach to the issue: a November ballot measure to let voters decide the future of an offshore drilling ban. After a huge push from Gov. Crist, the Republican leadership took a break from their vacations and convened the special legislative session yesterday to take up the proposal. Within hours, dictatorial drilling supporters won the day. According to the Miami Herald, the measure failed at the point members were debating whether to debate whether to allow a referendum vote.

I'm dizzy just reading that, and Crist was furious. "How arrogant can a Legislature be? I can't believe that they would have that much of a lack of respect for the people of Florida," he said at a press conference immediately afterw0rds.

The news media is making a lot (see here and here) of the heated political fallout of this debate, especially for Crist's reelection prospects as a newly-minted Independent. But, I just want to take a step back here. It speaks volumes about the degree to which drilling supporters represent special industry interests that they are so fearful of allowing a popular vote. As the group Save our Shores, Florida points out, the state's citizens' livelihoods are at stake. Their voice deserves to be heard directly.

Ironically, as the legal deadline for a ballot measure will soon pass, it looks like the only option Florida voters have left is political recourse. Their feelings about oil drilling will hopefully be heard full throttle when they cast their votes this fall.