States face minimal harm from offshore drilling

NY Times Op-ed:

Florida Isn’t the Only State That Will Be Hurt by Offshore Drilling

By XAVIER BECERRA
No state faces more potential harm than California. But it apparently isn’t eligible for the free pass Florida got from drilling.
California suffered no lasting harm from an oil spill decades ago.  I have been by the rigs that are still there and the coast looks fine.  I have sailed my boat around rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. 

There is already plenty of incentive for producers to avoid oil spills.  British Petroleum has spent $1.7 billion to clean up the damage from the failure of a blowout preventer to operate properly.  No sane business person wants to have to deal with that so they do everything possible to prevent it.

What is really happening is states like California don't want to do their fair share to help the US maintain energy security.  They have made a heavy investment in inefficient alternative energy that has left the state's consumers with the highest electric rates in the country.  Florida thinks its beaches are more important than energy security. 

Here is the deal I would offer them.  If they want no offshore drilling they should force their drivers to pay a surcharge for gasoline with the money going to the department of energy to be used to develop resources elsewhere. 

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