Sands Attacks House Leadership on Oil Spill

The oil spill in the Gulf is not going away--physically or as a political issue. House Minority Leader Franklin Sands, D-Weston, is going after reported comments from Jill Chamberlin, the spokeswoman for House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala. Chamberlin said that a study of offshore drilling requested by incoming Speaker Dean Cannon, cost Florida $200,000.

With a massive offshore oil spill threatening the ecosystems of Florida and Gulf Coast states, it is with great disappointment that Florida citizens learn that Republican leaders authorized spending $200,000 of taxpayer money to commission a report that radically downplays risks of major oil spills and overstates the energy industrys ability to contain damage from such incidents, said Sands. In its April 9, 2010 report, Willis Structured Risk Solutions offered a deceptive analysis to conclude that the risk of a blowout is very low.

In an inadequate defense of why House Speaker Larry Cretul authorized the spending, a spokeswoman reportedly characterized the report as a `rush job and acknowledged that Representative Cretul commissioned the study at the request of Representative Dean Cannon, the Orlando-area Republican who is in line to be the next Republican leader of the Florida House of Representatives, said Sands.

While it is crucial that Floridians understand the risks associated with drilling, I find it troubling that House Republican leadership exercised such poor judgment in their unrelenting quest to open Floridas waters to drilling, concluded Sands. Furthermore, Floridians deserve an explanation as to where House Republicans found the $200,000 to finance this study.