This is pretty cool.

The State Emergency Response Team has created an interactive map that plots out the oil's impact on the state, color codes it to show severity, and points out the location of oil skimmers. It also updates regularly with on-the-ground reports from response teams and links to pictures of the tar balls, patties and sheen threatening Northwest Florida shores.

Who is the experienced politician here? The second question was to Jeff Greene, asking him about his role in making money on credit defaults. Greene used the question to offer his own biography -- a self-made man as opposed to his foe Kendrick Meek who inherited his congressional seat from his mother. Greene took exception to Meeks take that Greenes investing in credit defaults was putting money against Floridians. My investments were against the biggest banks on Wall Street, said Greene.

The debate between U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek and Jeff Greene started with both candidates being aggressive.

Greene started on the attack -- blasting Meek for taking contributions from BP and calling him more of the same.

Meek offered more of a biographical introduction, reminding voters that he had served as a state trooper.

Anxious about the Gulf oil spill's impact on nontourism businesses, six Panhandle counties are asking Gov. Charlie Crist to secure an extra $14 million from British Petroleum to spur nontourism job growth.

An hour before the first debate with Jeff Greene, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meeks team is already trying to spin the clash between the two leading candidates for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate.

Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, announced that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was backing his bid for Congress.

We believe that your election to the U.S. House will help produce sustained economic growth and help create more jobs, wrote U.S. Chamber President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue to Rivera.

A new poll from the Florida Chamber of Commerce has good news for Gov. Charlie Crist and his independent campaign for the U.S. Senate but it is an outlier compared to other polls taken in June.

The debate on debates has begun. Susan Wiles from Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scotts team sent his chief rival for the Republican nomination, Attorney General Bill McCollum, a proposal for four debates.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek and billionaire real estate investor Jeff Greene, the two leading candidates for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, will be squaring off in their first debate Tuesday morning. Its an odd time of day to be holding a debate -- from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The debate is being hosted at the Palm Beach Post and can be seen via webcast. Ill be live-blogging the debate, which I expect will be sharp and perhaps a bit personal.

The state is pursuing more skimmers to cleanse the Gulf of oil as the slicks hover miles off Panhandle shores, Gov. Charlie Crist and emergency responders told reporters Monday morning.

In the meantime, the state has 480,000 feet of boom in place, 170,000 feet staged andhas extended its state of emergency for 26 counties. Joe Boudrow, a deputy commander in the U.S. Coast Guard, has arrived in the state and is starting his first full week to guide efforts.