Calling Again for Amendment, Crist Opposes Obama Lifting Drilling Freeze

With the Obama administration lifting the six-month ban on deepwater drilling for oil, Gov. Charlie Crist --who is running for the U.S. Senate with no party affiliation --stressed his opposition on Tuesday.

As long as Gulf Coast residents and businesses are struggling with the claims process and being made whole, the drilling moratorium should not be lifted. said Crist. Without a thorough investigation of what exactly caused the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, any drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is a job killer for Florida, not a job creator.

Despite the Legislature rejecting his call to forward a proposed constitutional amendment to the November ballot to ban drilling in state waters (the House adjourning in less than an hour when Crist called them into special session), the governor repeated his call for the amendment.

Even though oil spilled far from Floridas shores, our tourism and seafood industries received an economic blow, said Crist. We simply cannot afford another spill. Florida is a tourism state, not an oil state, and Floridians deserve to have the opportunity to choose whether we allow drilling off our beautiful beaches, by way of a constitutional amendment.