DeSantis must oppose oil drilling off Florida's coast

When oil made it all the way to Florida’s coast from the Central Gulf during the BP Deepwater Horizondisaster, businesses that relied on coastal tourism shut down.

The tourists and visitors that power our state's coastal economies stayed home, and the tourism and recreation industries suffered, losing more than 10 million days of beach, fishing and boating activity. The Deepwater Horizon disaster showed business owners like me the catastrophic economic impact that an oil spill can have – and how ever-present that threat truly is, especially in the face of even more proposed leasing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Every oil spill disaster starts with a single new lease sale, and any lease sale for oil and gas drilling can bethe one that decimates local and state economies that rely on clean and healthy oceans. Florida’scoastal economy supports more than 650,000 jobs and $43 billion in GDP in the tourism, recreation andfishing industries.

I own and operate three ocean recreation businesses in the Suncoast region that suffered in the fallout of the BP disaster, and what’s clear to me now is that any expansion of offshore drilling is incompatible with the success of our tourism and recreation industries.

That’s why opposition to new offshore drilling is broad and bipartisan. In 2018, Florida voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment 9, which added a ban on offshore drilling in state waters to the state’s Constitution. And it’s not just the public –100 municipalities in Florida have also opposed new leasing because new offshore drilling puts coastal communities, pristine beaches and abundant marine life at risk of toxic oil spills.

Florida Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio sent a letter to President Donald Trump's administration in 2019 opposing new drilling off Florida’s coast, citing the economic threats posed by offshore drilling. In fact, Florida’s entire congressional delegation, Democrats and Republicans alike, sent a similar letter to Trump voicing their concerns with drilling off the state’s coast.

Floridians and our elected officials at every level are all in agreement that offshore drilling is bad forbusiness and bad for Florida. And Gov. Ron DeSantis previously said he agrees. On the campaign trail in2018, DeSantis' spokesperson said, “He is completely opposed to any offshore drilling off Florida’scoasts.”

But while DeSantis campaigned on his opposition to new offshore drilling, he has failed to express his formalopposition to new drilling off Florida’s coast as plans move forward for a new oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico.

Last month, DeSantis had a Dec. 23 deadline to submit comments to President Joe Biden raising concerns about this issue, and 15 Florida nongovernmental organizations encouraged him to do just that. But in his official letter to the president, DeSantis failed to oppose the new drilling planned off Florida’s Gulf Coast.

DeSantis could have stood up for Florida’s coastal residents and economies by submitting a letter to Biden that opposed Lease Sale 259 – and supported a final five-year plan that includes no new leases for dirty and dangerous offshore drilling. He didn’t do so.

Fortunately, 2023 presents more opportunities to protect our coastal businesses and communities from offshore drilling. DeSantis can protect our ocean livelihoods in the new year by opposing Lease Sale 261 – and any other new leases off Florida’s coast in Biden’s five-year plan.

Our oceans, economy and way of life depend on it.

Aimee Conlee and her husband, Mike, are the owners of Urban Kai, an outdoors company that operates three waterfront shops in the Tampa Bay area.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Floridians need Gov. DeSantis to oppose offshore drilling