Good afternoon, my name is Barney Bishop and I’m the President and CEO of Associated Industries of Florida, an 86 year old not-for-profit business association that represents the business community in Florida. In December of 2005, we became the first statewide general business group to endorse drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. And here we are almost a year later testifying for the second time to the Minerals Management Service in favor of drilling for oil and natural gas.
This is a critically important issue to Florida’s business community because energy costs are a significant overhead cost for every person in business as well as for Florida’s consumers. Whether it is agriculture, road building, manufacturing or even a lawn mowing or a flower delivery business, everyone is feeling the impact of volatile fuel costs. More importantly, despite what you will hear from the other side, Floridians understand how important this issue is to them on a daily basis. Last December, FloridaInsider did a statewide poll and those numbers showed that at that time 46% of Floridians were opposed to drilling, 44% were in favor and 10% had no opinion. When these numbers came out it was unbelievable. Never before had Floridians taken such an even keel position. But, as time progressed, the numbers have become even more favorable for drilling. At the end of July, this past summer, the numbers from an AIF statewide poll showed that 69% of Floridians endorsed drilling at least 125 miles offshore or anywhere and 24% of our citizens opposed it, with 7% having no opinion. Just last month we asked the same question in another statewide poll and in light of the fact that gasoline prices are the lowest that they have been in the last 10 months, still 62% of Floridians support drilling at least 125 miles offshore or anywhere, 30% oppose and 8% have no opinion. This is remarkable, because while some political leaders are demagoging this issue and saying Floridians don’t want drilling; the people of Florida are consistently saying that they approve of drilling! We need our political leaders to listen more and talk less and do what the vast majority of Florida citizens want to have accomplished.
While I am here representing our 10,000 member company’s and associations, I also want to state that AIF is emphatically in favor of alternative forms of energy production. We all understand that there is a finite amount of fossil fuel inside the earth, so we know that we have to move to a greater dependence on alternative energies. Consequently, AIF has endorsed an increased number of nuclear energy plants, we support all forms of green energy including but not limited to solar, wind, biomass, hydrogen and the latest potential of current – wave action – technology. We have member company’s that are now looking at increasing ethanol production from biological ingredients. But to demonstrate the fact that we will still need fossil fuels in order to help achieve greater future dependence on alternative energy sources, think for a moment about ethanol. In order to grow the biological crops, corn, sugar cane, whatever, farmers will need fertilizer. The primary ingredient of fertilizer is phosphate and natural gas. So to grow the alternative energy source, we will need even more natural gas to make the fertilizer. Once the ethanol is produced, to deliver it to consumers we will need tanker trucks which use diesel fuel! So, the real truth is that we are not going to be able to produce even the ever-popular ethanol without an increased dependence on current fossil fuels.
Now environmentalists are going to tell you, and they will testify, that America needs to move to alternative or green energy and as I said we support that. But to realistically think that alternative energy is going to be a significant number anytime in the next two to three decades is pure poppycock. Though we are the Sunshine State, we do not have enough pure sun – without the clouds – to make solar power a primary energy alternative. Likewise the wind, though it blows along the coast, is not strong enough consistently enough to provide much future power from wind turbines for Florida. But, I would like to add that one of our energy companies that is a member of AIF is the biggest producer of wind energy in the country. Biomass is a good alternative, but we still have a long way to go to make it economical enough for it to be a major alternative. Perhaps the best future technology is going to be hydrogen and wave action – current technology. We supported Governor Jeb Bush’s hydrogen bill in the 2005 legislative session. And we believe that wave action technology needs more funding and we need to use the oceans to help produce energy in the future. However, given even the rosiest predications, sustainable alternative energy sources are not going to surpass 10% of our energy needs for anytime in the near future.
So, are we going to drill our way out of dependence on foreign oil? Of course not! But, to stick our head in the ocean mud and ignore the energy sources we have off of our own shores is not what Floridians believe is in our best interest. Speaking of ocean mud, you are going to hear dire warnings of the danger to the ocean bottom from drilling, yet you heard from fishermen at the April MMS hearings in Tallahassee and they proclaimed that some of the best fishing is near the oil production platforms in the Gulf.
You are also going to hear horror stories from environmentalists that there was environmental degradation from oil rigs or platforms during the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. Nothing could be further from the truth – oil rigs did not cause any significant environmental damage. There is a kernel of truth in the allegation because there was a multi-million gallon spill but it was at a tank farm on land, not an oil rig at sea!
You are also going to hear that there isn’t enough oil or natural gas in the eastern Gulf of Mexico to warrant further drilling. Again, that is simply conjecture by the environmentalists. And to some extent it is conjecture by our side that there is enough oil and natural gas to suggest further drilling. Except for the recent colossal discovery of oil and natural gas in the Gulf which was just announced a few months ago.
The bottom line is, we need fossil fuel. Not because it is the best alternative, but because it is the best alternative that we have right now. We all want green energy to be part of the future, but it is NEVER going to be the only option in the future. We will need fossil fuel to get us from where we are today to where we all want to be in the future. With the continuing commitment by oil and natural gas company’s that operate in the Gulf of Mexico to explore and drill in a safe and environmentally conscious way, we can have our cake and eat it too! We strongly support opening the OCS for exploration and drilling and Floridians support this position. Thank you for your time and consideration today, we will be submitting our formal comments to the designated person at MMS.
516 North Adams Street ● Post Office Box 784 ● Tallahassee, Florida 32302-0784 ● Phone: (850) 224-7173 ● Fax: (850) 224-6532 ● www.aif.com
