Earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL) marked the fifth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon Blowout Disaster at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science Laboratory, where scientists summarized the extraordinary amount of research done since the disaster to better understand its costs to the Gulf of Mexico and the environment.

“Our scientists were remarkable in encapsulating the unprecedented body of marine and wildlife studies that they have undertaken since 2010,” U.S. Rep. Castor said.

“The fact remains that we can never allow this disaster to happen again. This means Congress taking needed steps to permanently prohibit drilling off the Gulf Coast as well as encouraging energy conservation to reduce oil dependence and in turn reduce corresponding pressures to expand drilling.”

Energy Conservation

Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a final version of the Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015, which contained U.S. Rep. Castor’s measures to benchmark the energy usage of federally leased buildings and requires the U.S. Department of Energy to complete a study on the best practices for energy benchmarking.

Building benchmarking is the process of assessing energy use of buildings and comparing them to otherwise similar buildings. The Environmental Protection Agency has found that buildings that were benchmarked consistently reduced energy use by an average of 2.4 percent per year for a total savings of 7 percent.

The study will identify best practices and the impacts of state and local performance benchmarking and disclosure policies for commercial and multifamily buildings. These types of policies will help Tampa remain among the top energy efficient cities in the country.

“The federal government is the largest consumer of energy in the country, and it should lead by example,” U.S. Rep. Castor said. “Energy conservation to reduce our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and banning offshore drilling to prevent environmental disasters like the BP blowout go hand-in-hand in protecting our economy as well as saving consumers money.”

The Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015 is now on its way to be signed into law by the President.

Prohibiting Drilling Off Gulf Coast

Earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Castor refiled her bill, the Florida Coastal Protection Act, which would permanently prohibit fossil fuel drilling, leasing, preleasing and any related activities off the Gulf coast and the Straits of Florida. The current buffer 235 miles off of Tampa Bay is effective only through 2022.

“It was the University of South Florida’s Weatherbird that was one of the first vessels dispatched out into the Gulf of Mexico to investigate the BP Deepwater Horizon blowout,” U.S. Rep. Castor said Monday at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg.

“USF’s response was incredible and its research since then has been relentless, but unfortunately, Congress did not respond in adopting tough regulations in deepwater drilling. The Obama Administration has adopted some of those regulations, but this is temporary until it’s adopted into law.”

U.S. Rep. Castor filed the Florida Coastal Protection Act in 2008 and again 2010.

“Last night, Congress passed my energy benchmarking measures, which is a step towards reducing pressures to expand fossil fuel drilling. This goes hand-in-hand with Congressional measures needed to permanently protect our Gulf to keep safe the economies of our coastal communities,” U.S. Rep. Castor said.

Monday’s presentation by USF can be seen on its College of Marine Science YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/USFMarineScience 

###