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Protecting Florida From Oil Drilling: MyFlorida.com

GOVERNOR BUSH JOINS PRESIDENT AT WHITE HOUSE TO TAKE HISTORIC ACTION PROTECTING FLORIDA FROM DRILLING

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Protecting Florida from Oil Drilling

Florida's protection against oil drilling has received a boost with a pair of announcements, one effectively prohibiting oil drilling off Florida's Gulf coast and another doing away with plans for oil drilling in the Big Cypress Preserve. Governor Jeb Bush detailed the plans in a recent conference call...

Twenty five years ago, when the Federal Government purchased the land that is now Big Cypress National Preserve, they did not acquire the mineral rights. A recent plan for private exploration in the preserve has changed that. Florida Governor Jeb Bush says the Federal government has agreed to a measure that will acquire those rights...

Florida officials were on hand in Washington as President Bush made a commitment to limit oil drilling off Florida's Gulf Coast and on federal lands near the Everglades. Governor Jeb Bush says the offshore effort relates to leases in an area called the Destin Dome near Pensacola as close as 25 miles to the coast...

In a second step to limit oil drilling off the Florida Coast, the federal government has negotiated its way out of oil leases that would've allowed drilling as close as 25 miles to the coastline near Pensacola. As a result, Florida now has a 100 mile perimeter with no oil drilling. Florida's Secretary of Environmental Protection is David Struhs...

With a pair of measures that would limit oil drilling off Florida's Gulf Coast and in Big Cypress National Preserve, the Federal government has handed Florida dramatic protection against oil drilling. Speaking in a conference call, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David Struhs was thrilled with the outcome...