Earlier this month, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) joined a pro-drilling group, Securing America’s Future Energy, to release a report downplaying the risk offshore drilling would pose to Eglin Air Force Base training exercises and other military operations in Gulf of Mexico.
Environment Florida Advocate Adam Rivera shot back a response:
“When it comes to offshore drilling’s impact on Gulf military operations, one thing is certain: We will not make America more secure by risking our ability to train our armed forces in the Gulf in order to obtain less than six months of oil over a 25-year period."
The risk offshore drilling poses to Eglin Air Force Base Ranges is real enough to warrant careful consideration. When that risk is paired with the meager reward that exists off Florida’s shores, the idea of even potentially impairing military exercises in the Gulf becomes completely unthinkable.
No matter how closely oil companies are allowed to encroach, in state or federal waters, upon Gulf military testing and training sites, America will find itself depending no less on foreign nations for energy, spending no less at the pump, and fearing no less for its security.
The report released today by Sen. Dorgan does not examine how drilling in waters controlled by the State of Florida—within ten miles from our coastline—would impact important military training operations at Eglin Air Force Base Ranges.
At the Florida House Military Affairs and Local Policy Committee hearing on January 13th, Col. Bruce McClintock, the Commander of Eglin Air Force Base Ranges, testified that drones and missiles plummeting from the sky during training exercises could gravely damage rigs, pipelines and other infrastructure.
As with the chance of a major spill occurring near Florida’s beautiful beaches, this risk ought to be taken very seriously by decision makers.
Even Florida Energy Associates appeared to concede last Wednesday: Florida would be better off excluding militarily important areas from offshore oil and gas operations.
"Better still would be a future in which Florida eschews expanded drilling and all the risks attending it, in favor of real oil-saving, security-enhancing solutions: more fuel efficient vehicles, investments in clean and efficient fuels and expanded green transit alternatives.”
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Environment Florida is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy group. For more information, please visit www.environmentflorida.org.
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