Producing and Non-producing Leases in the Gulf of Mexico
Oil companies are sitting on 68 million acres of federal lands – or 81 percent of U.S. oil reserves – that they have already leased but have not developed for drilling.

Floridians Should Not Be Panicked Into Sacrificing Their Coast
Tampa Tribune Editorial, July 11

"Big oil interests are using big lies to promote oil drilling off Florida's coast. Trying to capitalize on the public's dismay over high gas prices, the drill-everywhere crowd is misleading citizens about the likely consequences.

Drilling, they say, represents no threat. Keep the rigs out of sight - 12 miles or so - and you will never know they are there. The drills are so safe they even endured Hurricanes Katrina and Rita without a drop of oil reaching shore.

That's simply not true. "
(Continue reading the Tampa Tribune Editorial...)


Declaring Independence From Big Oil
By Kathy Castor, July 4th 

"Hardworking Tampa Bay area families are being squeezed by the rising costs of health care, housing, property insurance and, of course, gas prices. Many reformers have been standing up to the White House and urging them for years to change direction and focus on long-term solutions to our energy challenges. Big Oil and their allies in Washington have had a stranglehold over our country's energy policy, and unfortunately families and businesses across America are paying the price. Bipartisan reformers are not giving up, however."
(Continue reading...)


U.S. Rep. Castor's Response to President Bush Lifting the Presidential Moratorium on Oil Drilling

"President Bush and VP Cheney continue to side with Big Oil over the interests of the American people. Bush’s claim that drilling off of coastal Florida will lower gas prices is a hoax and a sham. Even Florida’s biggest pro business lobby states that drilling off our coast will not do anything to lower gas prices. Instead, a comprehensive energy plan is required that targets oil speculators to lower prices, promotes conservation and transit, forces oil companies to drill on the 68 million acres already available to them but not being tapped, and encourages drilling in the national reserve area to more immediately increase our oil supplies."