Sunday, September 6, 2009

SLICK OIL

There are many questions regarding off-shore oil drilling. The questions and answers will have a direct impact on life in Florida, life in Pinellas County, and ... life on the beach.
The more you know, the better decisions you will make.



What's in it for ... me?

Sunday September 6, 2009. St Petersburg Times.

According to Mr. Ken Welch, Pinellas County commissioner, at the Offshore Oil Drilling Symposium sponsored by the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce, "...pro-drilling lobbyists conceded that expanded offshore oil drilling will not significantly impact the price of gas at the pump."


It depends on ...who you are?

Sunday August 30, 2009. St. Petersburg Times

A secretive group of powerful legislators, business groups and Texas oil companies has been laying the groundwork since December to win legislative approval to open Florida waters to oil exploration and end the 20-year drilling moratorium.

According to this article, Doug Daniels, a Daytona Beach lawyer representing Florida Energy Associates advocating for off-shore drilling, said the technology has changed to make drilling less visible and intrusive.

"It can be done safely, and it can be done virtually out of sight," Daniels said. Perhaps Mr. Daniels should do a bit more research.


Just one week earlier...

Sunday, August 23, 2009. ABC News

A leak at an offshore oil drilling rig has caused an oil slick off Australia's coast. According to the rig's operator, it could "take weeks to fully plug it." Gas and oil started leaking from a hole beneath the sea floor on early Friday. 69 workers were evacuated yesterday from the West Atlas Offshore drilling rig.


Did someone say...Safely?

Poisonous hydrogen sulfide began leaking from the area and sparked the evacuation, said one rig worker, who spoke to ABC on the condition of anonymity. He said that colleagues detected a gas leak early yesterday before they saw bubbling around one of the platform's 1,200-metre-deep drilling holes.

Far out and ...uh oh!

The leaking Australian oil rig is located about 155 miles off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia, a region dubbed as "one of the world's last true wilderness areas" by Tourism Australia. The UPI reported that the Australian oil leak was 19 miles long after just two days, and that it would take more than seven (7) weeks to contain.


If out of si
ght, then ...out of your mind?

Closer to home, according to the St. Petersburg Times
article, Representative Dean Cannon, a Winter Park Republican set to become House Speaker in 2010, said his new plan for off-shore oil drilling in Florida would require drilling to stay at least 5 miles away and will include stronger provisions to make sure beachgoers can't see drilling rigs from shore.


19 is a bigger number than 5...right?


...A 19 mile oil slick would practically cover the beaches from Fort Desoto to Indian Rocks beach. The Australian oil rig was 155 miles out to sea. Mr Daniels believes five (5) miles is far enough to be "virtually" out of sight.

If one does the arithmetic, for a 5-foot tall person with excellent/perfect vision standing on the beach, in great conditions, oil platforms would be visible. However, from a second story beach balcony, anyone would find oil drilling and platforms an obvious part of the Gulf Coast sunset scenery.

Math is such an important part of a good education, don't you think?


Who's cleaning up here?

Chemical detergents dropped from airplanes - like fighting forest fires - are being used to "clean up" the Australian oil slick. Really, it's more like dispersal - spreading it out. The detergents reduce the potential impacts of oil on surface-dwelling animals (i.e. birds and otters) but are deadly to young fish and could seriously impair the health of fish populations. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) describes choosing in an oil spill emergency, whether or not to disperse oil into the water and risk harming coral, versus getting the oil slick off the surface of the water so birds, mangroves and nesting turtles aren't as affected.

An Australian Senator expressed her concerns about the oil slick, "Just imagine if this was happening a bit closer to the Kimberley coast...that oil could be on shore before we even scrambled the planes."

Here in Clearwater, oil representatives at the Offshore O
il Drilling Symposium were asked what their estimate of the clean-up cost for an oil spill might be. They had an interesting answer.

"We Don't Know."






My thanks to the St. Petersburg Times. In addition, material from these sources was beneficial.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/01/15/how-far-away-is-the-horizon/

http://people.sc.fsu.edu/~burkardt/fun/puzzles/horizon_puzzle.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/22/2663479.htm

http://www.upi.com/Energy_Resources/2009/8/24/Australia-oil-rig-leak-could-take-7-weeks-to-contain/UPI-35841251131090

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/oil_spill_cle
anups_harmful.php



An Off shore Oil Drilling UPDATE MARCH 21, 2010

Florida should forget ab out drilling in gulf

In Print: Sunday, March 21, 2010



Drilling off Florida's coast won't increase America's independence from foreign oil, lower gasoline prices or raise billions of dollars annually for the state. •

Those are among the predictable findings of a new nonpartisan report on offshore drilling commissioned by the Florida Senate president. It is inconceivable that any responsible state lawmaker still would consider leveraging the state's pristine shoreline — and the tourism customers it draws — for such little return. Yet Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Orlando, who is in line to be the next House speaker, is doggedly pushing a plan that could put drilling platforms within 10 miles of the west coast.

The report produced by a Tallahassee think tank offers some of the best information yet to refute the propaganda from an anonymous oil industry group, Florida Energy Associates, that wants Florida's ban lifted. The report shows that the most-generous industry estimates for what Florida could collect from drilling in state and federal waters is far less than $2 billion — the annual amount suggested by the energy group's economist.

The Collins Center for Public Policy produced "Potential Impacts of Oil & Gas Exploration in the Gulf" on behalf of the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, a group set up by the Legislature in 2005 and chaired by former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, a Republican. Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, asked the commission to take on the issue late last year due to concerns about a lack of neutral information on drilling.

The 40-page report uses a question-and-answer format to address 31 issues that have arisen since Florida Energy Associates began its push last year. It says the risk of a devastating oil spill off Florida's coasts has greatly diminished due to technology and safety precautions since the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. But it also acknowledges the risk remains whether the drilling occurs in state waters close to shore or in the federal waters of the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Most striking: Researchers don't think there is even enough oil in state waters to sustain the country's gasoline needs for a week. Advances in seismic technology may make it easier to find natural gas deposits, the report said. But it's not been tested in either the eastern gulf or near Florida. And harvesting natural gas in Florida would displace American-mined coal as a fuel, not foreign oil. The impact on energy costs would be minimal.

The report also states the obvious: Lifting Florida's ban would make it more likely Congress would lift its 2006 ban on the more profitable resources farther out in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which extends as much as 125 miles from Florida's shore. The industry's endgame may be to get the drilling ban in state waters lifted merely to make it impossible to continue with the ban in federal waters.

But the eastern gulf doesn't have nearly the deposits found in the federal waters of the central and western gulf — the areas that benefit Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. And none of those states have received windfalls anywhere close to $2 billion annually from offshore drilling.

If the federal ban was lifted, Florida's annual share of revenues could be as low as $20 million (based on traditional government estimates) to as high as $180 million (based on industry estimates), according to the report. New jobs would number between 1,000 to 2,500.

The report purposely does not estimate revenues from drilling in state waters, except to say they would likely be less than those of other states with greater deposits. Alabama generates the most income from near-shore production: $200 million a year. What does $200 million buy in Florida? Not much compared to a $66 billion state budget. Or compared to the potential risk to the No. 1 industry, tourism.

Supporters of drilling off Florida's shores are evoking a patriotic duty to solve America's dependence on foreign oil. Cannon warns of riots in the streets if Floridians cannot get food because there is no fuel for trucks to deliver to groceries. But these are the facts: The estimated deposits in Florida's state-owned waters aren't even enough to fuel America's needs for a week, and lifting the drilling ban would provide relatively little money for the state. It would open the beaches and the state's tourism industry to additional risk — regardless of new drilling technology. The Senate has the answers it needs to tell Cannon to forget about drilling.

Drilling in Florida waters

The state owns submerged lands from the coast to 10 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and three miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean. Here are some statistics that speak to drilling issues.

100 million

Government estimates of barrels of oil in state- owned water

140 million

Barrels of oil the U.S. uses in a week, or 20 million barrels a day

Unknown

What Florida could collect from drilling in state-owned waters, though experts expect less than other gulf states because of geological formations.

$200 million

Average annual amount Alabama collects for drilling in its state-owned waters — the most of any gulf state.

$189 million

Amount the Florida Lottery is expected to raise this year to enhance the state's education offerings

$66 billion

Florida's 2009-2010 state budget

Source: Potential Impacts of Oil & Gas Exploration in the Gulf, Collins Center for Public Policy; 2009 Florida General Appropriations Act (SB 2600)



[Last modified: Mar 19, 2010 09:05 PM]


Students and guests are welcome and encouraged to respond in the comments section. Comments may be moderated.

What do you think?

How might this information help you form an opinion?

What else would y0u like to know?





145 comments:

  1. Practice comment

    -Brianna B

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  2. I think that it's a bad idea to have them there at all even if they do try to hide them

    bruce red period 1

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  3. Ouch, now one should definentaly say no to oil drilling becuase the prices will not go lower and it won't make that many more jobs you just get the probalilty of hurting the wildlife

    Michael S., Blue, P.5

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  4. I dont think that off shore oil drilling is right no matter what "good" things people think will happen. Because its either lower oil prices or Saving trees,fish,birds.
    Kirsten Elin
    Blue class

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  5. I hope they will find a safe way to clean the animals but don't kill the fish. Oil spill are pretty dangerous if they damage the enviroment like that.

    From, Juliane W. 3 period class.

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  6. they shouldnt do oil drilling it is going to kill our coast and all of the animals in it. my dad told me that the only good thing is that we wont have to pay more gas money.

    Chloe Harrington, Orange Period 2

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  7. right now i am voting against oil drilling off shore but in the future we are going to have to need the oil.I think what we can do is demand that they put something like a little pipe inside the oil rigs so we can be guaranteed there is no oil leaking(but e all know it is going to leak anyway)

    Rachel Replogle, Orange P.2

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  8. Maybe boycott or petion the gov't

    Michael S., Blue

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  9. They should not do off shore drilling. Why cant they use the land to find more oil instead of the ocean. Grant DeBiase

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  10. I already had the idea that off-shore drilling was a bad idea for the environment, but I thought it could help the economy just a little, but now I KNOW that off-shore drilling isn't going to help anything!

    Chris Tepetitlan BLUE class (P.5)

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  11. I always knew off shore oil drilling was bad for the environment but, it can also be bad for the government. Because they would have to pay a lot of money for a minor, or a huge spill if there ever is one. It can also hurt us. Many jobs would be lost, like Fish Stores or Fisherman jobs and tourism to the beaches. Maybe even some restaurants in the area would go out of business and not be able o service fresh fish.


    Ayden Marrullier P.2 orange class

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  12. It's a very good blog i like it alot!! Your webstie is awesome too! its a great way for students to get information without taking hours searching for good websites! Since you have links to good websites we can just use those for the information we need!

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  13. I think that off shore drilling will be bad for the enviroment because the oil rigs can spill oil right into the ocean harming marine life. If you take people fishing on your boat for a day to earn money some people would stop paying for fishing trips because if there has been a lot of oil spills in that area it would cause the fish to die so their won't be a lot of fish to catch in that area or they could be poisoned by oil and if you catch one of those sick fish and take it home to cook it you have a possibility to become sick when you eat the fish.

    Jordan Loreth P.2 orange class

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  14. Im voting against oil drilling because think of all the baby animals and sea life getting killed because of it. Maybe if we stop driving cars like to a park that is like around the corner we could either walk or ride a bike. And we can also stop it by like when your in a line at a fast food resteraunt you can turn your car off so you dont waste the gas.

    Chloe Harrington P:2 Orange

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  15. why can't we use something other than oil for cars and things like that? don't we have alternative fuels or something?

    kaitlyn class:violet

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  16. gee, what a big mess! I hate to hink about the ecosystem that is and about to be ruined in austrailia and madeira beach. maybe for a class project we could write a letter to this person and protest and we all get bonus points if they agree not to do it

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  17. WOW i really want to help out cleaning the animals. There so helpless i feel so bad.
    Ada Houk Period4 Green

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  18. BTW FISH THING AT BOTOM SOOOOOO COOL

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  19. Courtney Crosby Period 2September 10, 2009 at 10:18 PM

    The other day I got into a dicussion with a teacher drom Sanderlin and it was very intersting what she had to say. The conversation got heated once we actually started talking about how Charlie Christ and other supporters want to put in oil riggs off shore. Later in the conversation I used one of the facts on how the price of gas wouldn't really change and how we wouldn't get all the gas i came up with a conclusion. Why should we do something like this that won't changeanything in a positive way. The only difference would be that our beaches and the ocean life would br ruined! So what's the point.
    Courtney Crosby Period 2 Group Orange

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  20. Wow i didn't know that planes actually drop detergents and Chemicals.That is very bad for the environment...and all the planes that fly out all over that is just SUPER bad.


    Michelle M. Period 3 Group Yellow

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  21. For the oil spill about last month that is really bad because a lot of sea creatures are dying because of the oil spill. Not only that they are polluting the water,the air and Earth. That is why you have to be very careful for oil spills.

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  22. Michelle,

    ... the planes drop the chemicals and detergents on the oil spills on purpose, trying to get the the oil to spread out over a larger area becoming thinner and eventually breaking down into lots and lots of small oil slicks and splotches. This is just like trying to wash greasy plates and dishes in the sink. You need detergent to get the grease off the plates. True, the grease just goes down the drain, but its not all in one place anymore.

    Is this a good thing? What do you think?

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  23. I Really hope The Guys up in Tallahasee do not vote on putting rigs up ten miles off shore. The Risks outweigh the benifits by so much. It would do absolutely nothing but wreck Florida's beauty and Environment, and it would also bring havoc to Florida's Tourism industry, on which this state almost relies on.
    - Justin Delong, Environmental Science Period 2

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  24. i think is it sad how poor birds fly in and get oil all over them . the animals didnt do anything they dont deserve this!!!!! and also the six pack rings also make me really sad when they get stuck around the birds necks, i always cut them in little pieces.

    Rachel Replogle, orange p.2

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  25. When it is breaking down into lots and lots of small oil slicks and splotches shouldn't it make it easier to clean up?

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  26. I think that it is really important that they be more careful while digging oil or a lot of animals will die.

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  27. This is my favorite um, i think article/blog/paragraph, Save the animas!!!!!! Or clean them yeahh!!


    Madison,
    Green, p.4.

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  28. Nice comment Justin that is super true...!

    Mike S. Blue

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  29. HEY gang,, I REALLY like it when you comment on what other manatees (kids) say on the blog ... its starts to get truly cool.

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  30. Why Did You Call Us Manatees????
    Ada Houk green

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  31. Doesn't Dawn have a program for this???

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  32. Dawn ? Maddie I'm not sure what you refer to?

    Dish Soap?

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  33. Taylor D. pd.4 6th grd.September 17, 2009 at 3:49 PM

    It's really sad how animals are being disturbed and effected by all the pollution that is happening. There is an article in the paper about it pg.13A. The article talks about how British Petroleum "Just found a massive new oil field in the Gulf of Mexico." I personally disagree with the idea because it would be dangerous to the animals in the Gulf.

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  34. Wow I love the blog about the colossal squid they are so long and heavy!!! It dosn't seem like the species is very well known. I would like to find out more about them!!!

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  35. I totally agree with you Taylor!:)) The ocean is their home and we need to respect that. If we pollute their water with oil, some animals might reach extinction:(

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  36. The oil drilling off the coast of australia is leaking and they had to clean the leak. what i think of the off coast oil drilling i htink its sad that all the fish ,birds and wildlife could die and be choked in a unhumain way.

    Kevin red 9/23/9

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  37. I think that it's a really bad idea to have offshore oil drilling, period. I think they can be out of sight but think about a big oil spill. If the rigs are only 5 miles offshore people can still see them, even during a sunset. Alot of animals could die, like in the picture of the duck with oil all over it.

    bruce red p1

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  38. I think that oil drilling is a bad idea even if it's 5 miles out or 500 miles out, it still polluts the eath and the ecosystems underneath the ocean. The information might help me beacuse it gives me alot to think about the off shore oil drilling. I would like to know what animals the oil spills affect and what it does to alot of ecosystems that we don't even know about.

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  39. i think that the oil drilling is a bad idea becuse its just going to cause more problems for our ecomony and tick off people thats the only thing the'll be doing but it does lower our dependance on foreign oil so its just a matter of whos running the oil company.

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  40. I think oil drilling is still bad because I would not want to clean turtles and birds all day

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  41. I think that oil companies should put their oil rigs farther offshore so it doesn't ruin the view of people who live on the beach. It would be better if they didnt put oil rigs off shore because it will pollute the water but if they have to I would rather have them do it like 20 miles off shore.

    Bradley G. per.1/red

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  42. I think that offshore oil drilling is some what good because it will make us less dependent on foreign oil,but it is also very bad because the oil tanker's could tip at any moment and spill oil all across that environment,plus there would be many different types of fish that would die from probably inhaling it, including some of the otter's and birds.


    Mikey V. per.1/red

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  43. i think that people should be more concerned about the marine life because if we dont have marine life we wont be able to go fishing and get food because of all the oil in the water. oil in the water will totaly affect us and marine life because you dont want to have specles of oil in your bathingsute and the marine life will die and nothing will be able to populat the ocean unless people grow gills of somthing like that.also it wont be a pretty sight having oil rigs on the horizen. garrett sullivan class color red

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  44. I don't think it's right to put an oil rig off shore.It makes me even more nervous when I read about the oil slick in Australia.If it will take weeks to just plug up the hole then I am not happy about this decision.

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  45. Grace, red
    I think off shore oil drilling is wrong even if it will lower gas prices, we are killing our wildlife and polluting our ocean. pretty soon our fish population will be dead and our waters will be black with oil. Who ever started this should have oil spill all over him see how he feels with oil in his environment. I feel sorry for all the animal stuck in oil spills.

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  46. Every one would be able to see the oil rigs and that wouldnt be a plesent sight for tourest or just random people on the beach to see. The people would go somewhere else and that would make the beach deserted.If an oil spil were to happen , the oil would drift on shore and the marein life on the beach and in the water would be deserted of life and organisms .
    scott (red)

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  47. Alex, red
    Mr. Vosksuil I posted a comment without putting my name on it so just so you can identify it the first sentence is; I think oil drilling is a bad idea even if it's 5 miles out or 500 miles out.

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  48. I think that off shore oil drilling is a bad idea. I dont understand why they think it's ok aslong as we cant see it but i dont think it matters, either way animals and there habitats will be destroyed and it will still pollute our planet. the only thing that might be good about it is we wouldn't become dependent on forun oil but thats not even a big deel compared to what will happen to our environment.

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  49. Wow, that is really sad that the oil drilling company wouldn't even care that the animals might die from all the chemicals from the oil spill. It seems like nobody cares about the animal's well being from this oil spill. And its not just land animals either its animals in the ocean.

    Savanah R. Orange

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  50. Thats horriable!!!!!!! Cant they find a diffrent way to drill oil. I hate to think about all the accidents that are going to happen. The ecosystem thats about to be completely ruined. For a class project we should do a prostest!!!

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  51. This passage is very interesting to learn about. I would like to focus in class about what the animals are doing when the oil is spreading. Also i think it is intresting that not that many people help pick up the oil. We should be appreciative that we even have beaches so we should definatly help the involved people.

    Rachel,Orange

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  52. This is very cool to me it said alot about oil drilling and i really enjoyed it.I really enjoyed te part about the people with good eye sight could see the oil rigs.It is really true too!there is very many people that get alittle mad at people that cant respect other peoples feelings
    Stevie,orange

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  53. It Doesn't make any sense. Why should we pay for someone else's greed (Texas oilmen), and then let them take all our beautiful beaches and pour oil on top of it, and then let us take care of the approximately 10 year long clean up process, for a prize that's not even worth what it WOULD do to our environment. These lobbyists up in tallahasee I really hate for this reason. Justin, Orange

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  54. This information will help me form a opion because it has alot of information about oil drills there are putting in the Gulf of Mexico and i think it would be a bad idea because if we do we might be picking the oil for a coulpe years.

    Austin Orange

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  55. I do not think that people should oil drill because it is very bad for the enviroment and marine life. Charles orange

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  56. I think that oil drilling is a really bad idea. Did you see the picture of that bird? WE ARE DOING THAT!!!!!!


    Sam Orange

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  57. I think that when a oil spill happens like the one in Australia that was over 155 miles long is bad for the environment because there are a lot of fish that live all over the ocean and 155 miles is a long part of the ocean. When people try to stop the oil spill from moving or trying to use deterogents will also harm the animals and it would be very hard to try and take 155 miles of oil out of the ocean and I would imagine that it would take a lot longer time the seven weeks to clean the oil spill up.

    Jordan Orange

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  58. Courtney
    Group Color: Orange

    I think that the planes dropping the detergent is a smart idea. And by reading this blog article I found out how the detergent hurts the small fish.

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  59. I don't want oil to cover our school and kill off all the fish. I like my seafood. If we do start to drill an oil spill is bound to happen when a hurrican hits.

    Shawn

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  60. What i want to know is if an oil spill happens from 5 miles away how much time will it take to to go to shore. I ask this because it did not take mush time for a spill 155 miles away to get to shore. And chould they get to the peple/oil fast enough to make it to not infering with our beaches/people. And did the people who are going to make the oil rig thinking come on!!!!

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  61. This infomation gives me the opinion that oil drilling can be really bad for the enviornment. CALOB ORANGE

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  62. It really sucks for all the animals that would lose their home just because people think that they will have a huge impact on gas prices but they really will go around the country.



    Aby (orange)

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  63. Evan, Orange
    We need to find a way to stop these things, and to save the wildlife from getting oily and drinking oil and stuff like that, if only we had a giant roll of underwater Duct tape.

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  64. I strongly agree with the comment about how Mr.Daniels nedds to study more cause 5 miles is way to close to the shore i also think that we need to quickly find a way to drill with spill proof way to clean up oil spills because i think its really sad how much living life is being affected and dieing.

    Jeremy,Orange

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  65. That is a lot of oil to spill in the ocean. I think that is bad to hurt the mareine life,animal that hang around the water and drink it. We need to respect the sea animals environment. I just wish we can stop spilling oil. We can sell cars that don't leak oil or use oil at all. I am against offshore oil drilling out in madeira beach. This blog is interesting.

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  66. I agree lindsey, you are totally right. Charles orange

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  67. I wonder if petitioning the govrenment or boycotting the whole offshoe oil drilling will make it stop.




    Aby (orange) p.2

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  68. I think off shore oil drilling is stupid. Oil companies say that if the oil rigs are 5 miles off floridas braches no one will be able to see them. Everyone will be able to see them! All you have to do is drive to a beach and look out towards the water and you will see those horrible oil rigs.If there is an oil spill Floridas beaches will become a mess and the environment will be ruined. Even poor little birds will die. They say it will benefit us and lower gas prices but the gas prices will just stay the same or they will even get higher. this is why I think that off shore oil drilling is so bad.


    Bradley G. (red) period 1

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  69. i think that it is an idea to think about but only 5 miles out how is nobody going to see that i think farther out


    JOSH (blue) per5

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  70. i think it would be very bad for another oil spill. so they should not make more offshore drilling.offshore drilling will cause more fish to die. it will affect everyone and everything in the community.

    jensen T.(blue) period 5

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  71. I think that offshore drilling is pointless. It harms the enviroment horribly. They should stop wasting thier time on getting oil and try to come up with an alternative fuel supply.

    Andrew Blue.

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  72. I think it is a bad idea to put them that close to the shore would be bad to the animals and everyone else who lives on the beach, but i think they should make them alot father out that 5 miles so it wouldn't endager us. but if wo put it to far out it would endanger the workers who are working on the oil rig because if one of them was to get hurt they wouldn't be able to get them medical atention quick enough.

    Brendan (blue)

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  73. i think it would be a really bad idea to put an oil rig in the ocean because it has a really horrible effect on nature and the environment and it has no effect on economy because the oil rig will not show any difference in gas priceage.


    robert, blue, period 5

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  74. CODY, BLUE

    i think that it is a bad idea to put an oil rig only 5 miles out from land. I think that because if a major accident like a oil spill happens there will be a huge problem. another reason is that since it might only be around 5 miles out it will ruin the veiw for tourists and it wont be an exciting thing for them either. but the only thing is that if you do put one out there we will get more oil shipped around the us, which is a good thing. although the oil doesnt go directly to the land that is 5 miles away from the rig.

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  75. I think that they shouldn't put the oil rigs out there even if they are "invisible". There still really bad for the enviornment. And right now we're trying to save the planet. Not kill it.
    - Themi (blue)

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  76. I think that off shore oiling isn't the best idea, though we do need the oil. We should truly start working harder to get more echo friendly ways for fuel.
    The prices of oil are rising and people Do Need the oil for fuel because no one is working on ways to become less dependent on focil fuels like Oil.
    I don't think it's a good idea bexcause the econamy proves a point. If we focuse only souly the present the future is damaged, I wouldn't sacrifiec my kid's life in order to live a good life for myself. Halle Blue

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  77. I think that off shore oil drilling is really bad because it could indanger all marine life. Also it could hurt us because we swim in it. It is also good because then we wouldn't have to wast are money on foreign oil.


    Rocco:(Blue) Period 5

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  78. I think that we should not have off shore oil drilling because you would be able to see the oil drills 5 miles out you would be able to see the drills if you are standing off the shore and ifd there was a spill it would kill the enviromentand the florida beachs

    Andrew J blue

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  79. I think off shore drilling is really stupid,especially in florida. If that oil rig was to have an accedent most of florida's shore would be covered in oiland would ruin are nice shore because it would ruin torist attraction's and florida's profit would be going down the drain and many citizens of that area would be angry.


    (D.J.)David BLUE pr5

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  80. I think that they should not make an oil rig becuase it is very risky. If they were to make an oil rig here then I think they should make it more than five miles of shore. The same thing that happened in Australia could happen here. If the oil rig was only five miles off shore and that was to happen, the water would be contaminated and the fish and other sea life would begin to die. Plus, if we were to do this it probably wouldn't even lower gas prices that much!

    Claire Blue

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  81. Justin Blue
    I think the idea of putting oil rigs 5 miles off florida is very dangerous. The oil rigs could spill and practically ruin wildlife in the ocean including birds and fish. An oil rig already spilled by Austrailia, so why put another one if its just gonna spill again and ruin the wildlife of the ocean? Its just not smart.

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  82. David (Blue) period 5December 1, 2009 at 12:33 PM

    i think that the oid drilling is verry stupid and if it was put only 5 miles out well im pretty sure my 2 year old brother could see it because it would be like looking at a yellow high light on a page!!Its the first thing you see an if we have an oil slick again there would be oil on shore of the beaches from here to sarasota an many many birds would die or what if it happend during when it was the season for turttle nesting an they got coverd in oil an couldnt make it to the water or if they some how they were eating it an died from sickness plus we already have problems with that an all the condoes on the beach but im just saying we already have problems we still need to fix so we dont need another one to help kill the earth that where on because if we have an oil slick i doubt we the people will be able to get all of the oil out off the see before its to late!!

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  83. I think that off shore drilling is a bad idea, because not only will more oil poluite the atmosphere more. If their is an oil spil it will ruin the costs eco system and kill fish and turtles and anything living in it's path. 5 miles off shore is not enough room if we go through with this plan because if by any chance that their is an oil spill than the airplanes that fight the oil wont have enough time to even get in the air before the oil reaches the beaches. That's why I think it is a bod idea to drill for oil off shore.

    MATTHEW PD 5 (BLUE)

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  84. I think that oil rigging could be done but i dont think it should be done only five miles offshore because anyone can see the rigs offshore. If they did plant oil rigs offshore it would ruin the sunset. What if the oil rig leaks out oil it could go all over our beaches and many people walk on clearwater beach daily. jake blue

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  85. jake blue I think if we banned offshore drilling and started putting more money into more efficent power sources.

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  86. I think that the oil drilling of the coast of Florida is not good. The oil rigs are not good because they are dangerous, for the enviorment. Also there is a danger of having a spill which could cause a dramatic change in the enviorment, if a spill accured. The rigs will destroy the view on the beaches because you will be able to see the rigs if they are just five miles off shore. I hope the congress does not pass the law.

    Eric Blue

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  87. Oil drilling sounds more harmful then i thoug.

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  88. It is very very complex. There are many opportunities for mistakes. Even a little mistake is hard to fix and expensive to undo.

    Thanks for then input.

    That's one (1) bonus point in the bonus box.

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  89. I think oil drilling sounds really bad and that we shouild drill where no animals would be harmed not in the water because thats sad that all those poor animals would be harmed by oil.


    Kirsten (RED)

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  90. It is a terrible thought that idea makers of offshore oil are trying to make more. Which makes no sence because do they even care about this planet if they are trying to make more of what is harming it. That may sound a bit confusing but offshore oil drilling is terrible for the enviroment and highly threatening to this planet!!!

    Aubrey (Red)

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  91. If it has hurt so many animals, and caused so many problems,how come we continue to do it? Do we need oil that bad?
    Jessica(Red)

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  92. Oil drilli8ng sounds horible!! Why would people want too ruin our world and our animals. I mean like why would they have off-shore drilling were the ocean animals would be harmed. I also ave a question. Is dish soap helping clean the animals that have been apart of oil spills. Ive seen it on bottles before.

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  93. Offshore oil drilling sounds very dangerous. People need to realize that Florida's industry of tourism would be broke.

    nick red

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  94. I think off shore drilling is not good because the oil will polute the air, if the oil spills then all the creatures underwater will die, the oil can cause a dramastic change in the environment if the oil spills.

    Ernie(Orange period 2)

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  95. man they need to redo their math i mean you can see 7 miles offshore and they want to put it 5 miles offshore they really need to redo their math and WE DONT NEED TO DRILL MORE OIL WE NEED TO GET UP OFF OUR BUTTS AND RIDE A BIKE!!! I MEAN REALLY PEOPLE IN FRACE CALL US THE BALLOON PEOPLE!!!!!!

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  96. Hannah Bristol said.....February 1, 2010 at 4:52 PM

    Reading this made me realize just how lethal oil drilling can be to the environment. It is so sad what these animals have to go through. I do NOT think that it is fair that they have to be punished for oil drillers mistakes. I do think that oil drilling is a good thing, but it definetly has it's costs and benefits. For example, some benefits of oil drilling is that it provides more jobs, lowers the price of gas because there is more to go around,and there would be more oil for heat, transportation, and electricity. Some costs would be that it would harm the environment if there was a gas leak or oil spill,it would be expensive to set up the drilling operation, and it would be expensive to tranport the oil. I think that we should all be more conservative and turn of the car when you dont have to keep it running, or turn the heat off when it is not that cold outside. This could help save our some of our environment and rescue the lives of many innocent animals.

    Hannah Bristol ( Orange Pr.2 )

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  97. Some very thoughtful responses. I am glad to see that you are thinking about these topics. Someone asked about detergent .. yes they actually wash animals and whole shoreline with "special" detergent to HELP cleanup. If you wash greasy, oily dishes at home by hand then you know how hard it is to clean up oil.

    Of course when you rinse that oily water down the drain... what happens then?

    A bonus point in the bonus box for all who responded today.

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  98. To many risks. Use an alternitive.

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  99. Hey there "alternitive" (alternative) Be sure to ID yourself with first name and class color.

    Can you suggest some alternatives?

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  100. i think drilling for oil is bad. Ithink if people new how risly drilling for oil is more people would try to stop it.


    Nicole-red

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  101. Drilling oil is a bad thing. It can hurt the environment and the animals. I dont think it needs to happen in Florida.




    Elizabeth-Red

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  102. Are there other ways to get oil? Or ONLY off-shore oil drilling?
    Jessica(Red)

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  103. I do not agree with drilling for oil off the coast of Florida. I do not think that 5 miles is going to be far enogh away from the beaches and the land if there was an oil spill.

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  104. Reading this made me realize how aweful oil drilling can turn out to be. It's so sad to read about the animals dying because of our mistakes with the drilling. Also, why would someone do this to our planet AND our animals! They really should not be trying to oil drill in the gulf!

    Lindsey (red)

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  105. I am for the offshore drilling because, even though you can see the oil wells doesn't mean they are bad. Another benefit as from foxnews.com,(June 20, 2008) it is estimated that the offshore oil drilling could bring in 16 to 21 BILLION barrels of oil which if we relied on the oil alone could supply our country for almost a year. The only problem about the offshore drilling is the possible oil spill on our beaches.

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  106. I think that offshore oil drilling could be done, but I am not sure. We could get more oil, but it may harm the enviroment and animals. It would be nice with the extra oil but it should at least be farther than 5 miles because the Exxon Valdez oil spill got up to 600 miles.
    Nicky Red

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  107. The oil spill has caused lots of people to ask lots of questions involving off-shore oil drilling. The oil leak has damaged life on the West Atlas offshore in Australia. The oil spill is definetly a bad thing for the waters of Florida because what if there's another oil spill in Florida that damages our resources. Also, if the oil spills into the ocean it can cause some animals to become sick or even die.

    Preston Red

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  108. I think that the Offshore Oil Drilling Symposium shouldn't drill on the coast of Florida. We do need a better supply of oil but what are the benefits? There are not very many. The prices of gas will not decrease that much. Are there going to be more jobs? No body has the answers but what are the cost. It could ruin our beaches and our ocean life. Off shore drilling could send our econcomy into a major break down. The representives of Florida say they don't know how much it would cost to clean up an oil spill. Then how do we know that it couldn't tank our econcomy. What are the answers to these very questions. No one but off drilling just might take place.


    Auriel,Red.

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  109. I do not agree with drilling for oil off the coast of Florida. I do not think that 5 miles is far enogh away from the beaches and the land if there where to be and oil spill.

    Robert Red

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  110. I agree with Mr.Ken Welch. That offshore oil drilling will not impact the price of gas.

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  111. I think that we should not support off-shore oil drilling off the coast of Madeira Beach because if there was a spill it could hurt the environment for a long time.

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  112. I don't agree with Mr. Daniels, because he believes that 5 miles is far enough to be out of sight to cover beaches with oil slick. From Fort Desoto to Indian Beach.

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  113. man they need to redo their math i mean you can see 7 miles offshore and they want to put it 5 miles offshore they really need to redo their math and WE DONT NEED TO DRILL MORE OIL WE NEED TO GET UP OFF OUR BUTTS AND RIDE A BIKE!!! I MEAN REALLY PEOPLE IN FRANCE CALL US THE BALLOON PEOPLE!!!!!!

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  114. Catherines response.... / orange
    Oil is thick and floats on top of the water and can harm coral reefs. Oil also takes a long time to clean up. It takes about 15 hours to clean up oil and care for all the wildlife that got harmed.

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  115. I think that the oil drilling is a bad idea beacause if the oil spills then the water and animals are going to get stuck in the oil spill the oil spill will damage the beaches and fish will die beacause they cant live in oil.

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  116. Hannah M (orange p.2)February 2, 2010 at 9:23 AM

    I think that putting oil drilling rigs 5 miles from Fort Desoto to Indian Rocks beach is terrible! Its not far enough away, it can harm our ocean,beaches, and animals that live in there.

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  117. shanley j (orange p2)February 2, 2010 at 9:25 AM

    I think that offshore oil drilling is really really bad. Because a leak at the offshore oil drilling rig has caused an oil slick off austraila's coast, gas and oil started leaking from a hole beneath the sea floor. I dont think oil drilling is a good thing because its killing animals and hurting other animals. Thats why its really really bad :)

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  118. Matthew,Orange
    In these paticular paragraph's and headings made me notice that Off-Shore oil drilling is a very dangerous and air polluting task. And it could really destroy and kill our ecosystem especcially when I noticed the leak in Austraila this leak made 69 workers evacuate. But we have no benefit from gas pumping so it wont help our high gas prices we have because oil is a Non-renewable resource so using oil and polluting the ecosystem is all the producers have once the oil is gone it's done and then oil workers have to find more. So offshore drilling isn't an option for any resource we need.

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  119. After reading this article I realize that off shore oil drilling even if the well is five miles off shore it will still effect our beaches not letting us be able to go to the beach if an oil spill occurs and losing alot of tourists who come here for the sunshine and beach. Even if a spill doesn't happen, and who wants to have a big oil well in the view of the sunset. I dont think they should build one for all these reasons


    Aaron yelko (orange/Period 2)

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  120. Grant Orange

    I believe that it is absolutely horrible that a secretive group of powerful legislatures want to drill off shore because they think that putting it 5 miles out will be "...virtually out of sight" ut the Australian oil rig was 155 miles and it had an oil spill that drifted 19 miles. I'm pretty sure 19 is much bigger than 5. So lets just think, if an oil spill did occur on that proposed oil rig than oil will cover the western coast of florida from Fort DeSoto to Indian Rocks beach that would basically ruin the tourism in florida if that ever happened. This in my opinion has more cons than pros on my list.

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  121. What do you think ? Karli /Orange

    I think no to oil drilling because so much wildlife will be lost. Also, there will be no point to oil drill because the gas prices will not go down on gas.

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  122. Karli / Orange
    How might this infofmation help you form an opinion?
    This information informed me alot about offshore oil drilling because it taught me about how much oil drilling would harm animals and it would not help the gas prices at all. This information was really helpful to also know that we would be able to see the construction off oil drilling going on.

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  123. What else would you like to know? Karli/Orange

    I would like to know how much the gas prices would go down if they did go ahead with the offshore oil drilling.

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  124. As great as it sounds to just stop drilling for oil and use safer renewable recourses... but we cant because we are dependant on oil and if we stop right now we would be in trouble. because now we have no oil and because most people don’t have a fully solar powered car that would be bad. the thing is if we keep on going like we are right now we will eventually have no oil left and millions will ether starve or freeze or die one of many very unpleasant deaths because they cant heat their homes or cook their meat. so we need to gradually stop using oil and replace it with wind and solar and all that good stuff.
    Also I want to see the OCEAN not a bunch of oilrigs sticking out of the water!
    -Joseph Reilly
    Blue class

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  125. Wow, i'm kinda confused when they say Mr Daniels believes five (5) miles is far enough to be "virtually" out of sight". When you can see regular 35+ foot boats 5 miles out.

    Cody Hamblin. Period 5 Blue.

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  126. Wow the oil drilling shouldnt be done because it wont help the economy to lower prices with that much oil coming out and i think that they should spend more time looking for the bigger amounts of oil. then going for every little amount they can get.

    Joseph Adair Period 5 Blue.

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  127. i dont think that we need more oil. i think we should focus more on how to use solar or wind energy instead of oil. i dont think its worth killing a bunch of animals. life is more important than oil. Julie blue

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  128. After reading this, I really think that the oil rigs shouldn't be placed in the gulf. We already have enough problems, and we don't need to waste money to clean up possible oil spills or spend days cleaning and restoring things to the way they were afterwards.
    David Blue

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  129. I think that off shore drilling will drastically hurt Florida's beaches and enviornment. If Florida dosent stay beautiful, then we will loose torrists and we will lose more that we gain from the oil. Clark Blue

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  130. i thnk its a bad idea because theres barley any oil anyway. and its too close to the shore. so whats the big need for all the oil? cory thompson blue

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  131. I really liked this article!The section that contained how five miles is virtually out of sight was kind of confusing. What I thought was really interesting was how helicopters pour detergent into the oil-filled water. I'd like to know more about that.

    -Grayson Blue

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  132. I hope they dont pass the law because it's horrible for the enviornment, it hurts animals and it looks bad. People should be more ecofriendly. Just because its 5 miles out doesnt mean you wont be able to see it. its pretty big.
    Hannah Blue.

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  133. i think oil drilling is bad!its hurting the environment.Five miles off shore is not far enough if you ask me.




    -sarah,blue

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  134. I think that oil drilling 5 miles off the coast might not be enough. I don't want to ge to the beach and look out at the horizon and see an oil rig. That might decrease the number of tourists that come each year for the beach. I find it interesting that offshore oil drilling will not impact the price of gas.

    -Anna, Blue

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  135. I feel bad for the animals in this situation, they dont even know why this is happening they arn't polluting, just loosing parts of their habitat

    Marissa blue.

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  136. I don't think that oil drilling off the coast of Florida is really a bad idea. Alot of times you will hear people talking about tar covered beaches, when really alot of the tar and oil comes from underwater pockets of oil. Drilling offshore would reduce the pressure inside of these oil pockets, thus reducing the amount of oil that seeps through...


    Levi, Blue, period 5

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  137. I think that oil drilling is a very big problem in the present day right now. some people could be for oil drilling, and some could be against. I ,personally, am against it because I saw the picture above of an oil rig dropping oil and I thought the picture was disgusting. Where does that oil go? It stays there. Slowly goes to the bottom. Enough of this could destroy our waters. Who would want that?
    ~Caroline, Blue.

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  138. Once I read this documant I do not want the oil drillers to drill in Florida because it rune the beachs. The beachs in Florida are our main reason people come here.
    Chesney Blue

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  139. I think that we shouldn't drill for oil in the oceans because it can be a huge danger. Animals that live in the waters are having their homes invaded for drilling sites. And even when the smallest amount of oil is spilled into the ocean, animals such as birds and fish can die.
    These animals don't diserve this, and they do nothing wrong... so why should they pay for our mistake.
    -Brianna. Blue

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  140. Joseph Julie David Clark cory Grayson Hannah Marissa Anna sarah Caroline Chesney Brianna some very astute comments. Levi good construction of you thoughts

    You might all want to read the St. Petersburg Times Editorial Page for March 21. A very well stated and comprehensive perspective.

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