Issue 458

In last week's issue of the Sand Paper, we reported that Senator Garrett Richter spoke at the Greater Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce's monthly luncheon. During the course of his speech, Richter mentioned a group in Tallahassee whose function is to look ahead 50 years to see what Florida needs will be in the future. Recently, they have has been asked to weigh in on the controversial topic of whether or not to drill for oil off of Florida's shores. This group is called the Century Commission, and this week we decided to find out more about them, what they've come up with in regards to our state's future and what they plan on researching concerning the drilling issue.

The Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida was established by the Florida Legislature in 2005 to look out for Florida's future at both the 25-year and 50-year mark.It is comprised of 15 members, with 5 each appointed by the Governor, the Speaker of the Florida House and the President of the Florida Senate.St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker was appointed Century Commission Chairman by former Governor Jeb Bush and subsequently reappointed by Governor Charlie Crist.

According to their website, by law, the Century Commission must: "annually envision the future for the state, continually consider laws and regulations and make recommendations as to how we can best accommodate population growth while maintaining our "quality of life," serve as a repository for our best "community-building" ideas and as a resource for all Floridians, and provide a written report to the Legislature and Governor addressing specific growth management issues.”

The membership must represent local governments, school boards, developers and homebuilders, the business community, the agricultural community, the environmental community, and other appropriate stakeholders. Members serve 4-year terms, and meet no less than three times a year.

At September's meeting, the Commission began discussing the controversial topic of whether or not to drill for oil off of Florida's coastline. According to the minutes of that meeting, the subject was brought up in response to an op-ed piece appearing in the St. Petersburg Times asking the Commission to look into the situation.

At the beginning of the meeting, Chairman Baker commented that the proposed role the Century Commission could play would be to gather information on the impact oil drilling would have on Florida's marine life, beaches and tourism. He asked for thoughts from the other commissioners.

Several of the commissioners expressed interest in having the Century Commission play a role and also commented that that the key issue was a lack of information on how the state would benefit as well as what the impact would be in the areas the Chairman mentioned.

Commissioner Craig commented that she felt the Century Commission had an obligation to protect Florida and asked whether there was currently a recognized source of correct

information.

The commissioners then discussed the issue and decided to form a fact-finding subcommittee to study the impacts of oil drilling.

Following up on the meeting in September, on October 2nd, Mayor Rick Baker, Century Commission Chairman, Bill Hogarth, Dean of USF College of Marine Sciences and others met to discuss a proposed summit dealing with the exploration of the Gulf of Mexico. Discussed was the creation of an outline of the major issues to be addressed in convening a deliberate conversation about the impacts – environmentally and economically – of exploring the Gulf of Mexico for sources of energy.

The outline listed some questions that will serve as a basis for offshore drilling analysis and may help to solidify certain issues. The questions include, "What will the industry be drilling for; oil or gas (or both)? What are the different impacts depending on what they are drilling for? Where will the drill rigs be located (how far offshore)? What will they look like? What are the potential impacts of drilling (including shipping and piping), both in the day-to-day operations and if there is a catastrophic event? What is the state of oil and gas drilling elsewhere in the world?”

According to the minutes of the October 2nd meeting, it was concluded that, "With a series of meetings and the use of a good website, data can be reported on these issues in a fairly short time”.

The Commission plans to ask some follow-up questions that will further clarify the information provided, such as, "What happens when the rig's productive life is over (decommissioning)?; How much oil/gas can even be produced? (is it a significant number making all this effort worthwhile?); Will the product taken off Florida's coast be used by Floridians?; What is the economic impact, including royalty payments, for Florida?”

These questions are being asked of groups from all sides of the drilling issue, and will be discussed at a future meeting of the Century Commission. This recommendation could have major impact as Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater recently stated that he wanted a complete study of the issue done before the March session of the Florida Senate commences. This study, to be conducted by the staff of the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee, will include the findings of the Century Commission as well as those of Florida State University's Institute for Energy Systems, Economics and Sustainability.

"The citizens of Florida deserve a thoughtful and deliberative conversation free of rancor or hyperbole, and the Senate intends to provide a structure for that conversation within our body,” Atwater told the media following the House passage of a bill to explore for oil.

"While IESES, the Century Commission and EDR may provide their initial findings prior to the 2010 Legislative Session, this analysis will be driven by the need for a dispassionate review, not timelines or schedules," he said in a written statement.

Earlier this year The House passed a bill that would have given the governor and Cabinet authority to lift a ban on offshore oil drilling but the Senate never took up the proposal. The house bill would have allowed drilling as close as three miles from shore.

Atwater is running next year for Chief Financial Officer. If he wins the Cabinet post, and offshore drilling becomes a reality in Florida, he would face votes on drilling leases as part of his new job.

In last week's issue of the Sand Paper, we reported that Senator Richter, when asked for a yes or no answer on the topic of oil drilling, said that while he is going to wait for more information before making his final stance, right now he tends to favor the idea because of Florida's economy. We decided to ask long-time drilling opponent Senator Bill Nelson to weigh in on Richter's comments.

"Any claimed economic benefits from oil drilling would be paltry considering the damage the industry would cause the state's $60 billion tourism-driven economy and world-renowned coastal environment,” Nelson told us. "Interestingly the oil lobby has now largely abandoned its false claim that drilling off Florida would somehow make the U.S. energy independent and has seized on the issue of the day: jobs and the economy.The industry is engaged in an almost cruel attempt to manipulate public opinion.”

Besides oil drilling, the Century Commission studies such things as long-term viability of water resources and creation of sustainable buildings and resources so that its citizens can be self-reliant in the future.

When we spoke with Senator Richter this week, he praised the work of the Century Commission, and told us that he was looking forward to their findings on the oil drilling issue.

"I think the Century Commission is a valuable body of thought,” he said. "Now they have been tasked to do a thorough study of the impact that oil drilling would have on our state – both environmentally and economically.”

Richter told us that the Commission has been asked to submit their findings by no later than February of 2010 so that members of the Florida Legislature can study them.

"Like I mentioned at the luncheon last week, I think it's vital that everyone understand all the facts so people don't makea knee-jerk reaction based on emotion,” he said.

The most recent report submitted to the Governor was in January of 2009. The recommendations in the report built upon those offered in the previous two reports, and were as follows: follow through on Florida's Water Congress – held in September 2008, and which involved 18 consensus recommendations ranging from securing recurring funding for alternative water development to setting a goal for statewide water conservation; Continue efforts to define and preserve Florida's most precious lands and water; Extend legislative term limits to twelve years and encourage regional visioning and support sustainable community design.

The recommendations from 2008 broadly covered four major areas: Ensuring an adequate and reliable water supply for current and future generations; Mapping Florida's most critical natural resources and pursuing new conservation methods; Designing communities and buildings that are sustainable and making the creation of a sustainable Florida within one generation the central organizing theme for all state public policy and agencies.

At the end of the report, it stated that the commission would look at issues such as health care, infrastructure and oil drilling during the course of 2009.

For more information on the Century Commission, and for links to the 19 Century Commission research projects and reports, go to www.centurycommission.org.

Keri Hendry