Write A Letter to the Editor To Protect Florida’s Shores from Drilling

Chris Carnevale | April 13, 2018 | Energy Policy, Offshore Drilling

The Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC)’s oil drilling ban in state waters is up for a final vote in the full commission next week! It has a new proposal number (6004) and has been combined with the issue of prohibiting vaping in indoor enclosed indoor workplaces, meaning both issues will appear in the same proposal number.

SACE has made the following letter-to-the-editor toolkit to make it easy for you to submit a letter to your local newspaper, encouraging the CRC to support the offshore drilling ban. Please consider writing a letter to your local paper supporting this ban. Feel free to take inspiration from the talking points below, and adapt them to your liking. Then, below, find the links to your local paper’s instructions on how to submit your letter.

Time is of the essence since the vote is next week!

Talking Points:

  • The Florida Constitution Revision Commission is considering Proposal 6004, which would place on the 2018 ballot a ban on offshore oil and gas drilling in state waters, which means within 3 miles of shore on the Atlantic coast and 9 miles on the Gulf coast.
  • I strongly support Proposal 6004 to put a ban on nearshore drilling on the 2018 ballot, in order to protect Florida’s beautiful coast. A ban on oil drilling in Florida’s state waters would help protect our vital tourism economy.
  • Florida welcomed 112.8 million visitors in 2016 – the highest number of tourists in the state’s history and its sixth consecutive record-year for visitation.
  • Visitors spent $109 billion and supported a record 1.4 million Florida jobs in 2016 – a testament to the vital importance of tourism to our growing economy, which relies on a clean environment.
  • Tourists come to Florida for our beautiful beaches, offshore reefs and fishing, which would be jeopardized by drilling and exploration for offshore oil and gas.
  • Should oil drilling occur off our coast, it would be preceded by risky seismic airgun exploration, which can cause great harm to wildlife. 40%-80% declines in local fish catches have been attributed to seismic airgun exploration, and it can severely impact marine mammals, like whales, that rely heavily on their sense of sound to navigate, feed, and communicate.
  • The Constitution Revision Commission should support Proposal 6004 and allow Floridians to vote on the future of their shores.

Links to newspaper submission instructions and forms:

Chris Carnevale
Chris is SACE’s Climate Advocacy Director. Chris joined the SACE staff in 2011 to help with building public understanding and engagement around clean energy solutions to the climate crisis. Chris…
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