Ballot initiative for 2012 - Off-Shore Drilling

With the Republican Party, for the most part, being in support of offshore drilling saying it is for "jobs, the economy and national security," as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce FOR offshore drilling, Save Our Shores has a big job in front of it to gather 700,000 signatures by February 2012 to put the initiative on the Ballot. Florida Hometown Democracy understands the tremendous effort in front of S.O.S. The Chamber of Commerce sent over 6,000 letters to President Obama urging him to lift the moratorium on off-shore drilling and put people back to work.

We saw what the Chamber did in Florida during this last election when it went against Amendment 4. It was all about "jobs" to them, or so they claimed, and so they are saying the same thing on oil drilling. What will they do? Will they be able to raise another $15 million to defeat it if SOS is lucky enough to get it on the ballot? Will our local Chamber have a Vote NO sign on its front yard?

Even our new governor Rick Scott said, “We need to protect our beaches, break our dependency on foreign oil and hold oil companies accountable when there are problems. As governor, I’ll look to strike a balance between responsible exploration that takes every precaution and is far enough from our shores while holding oil companies accountable for their mistakes.”

Save Our Seas and Beaches says, "We want the public to have the chance to vote on near-shore oil drilling and to ban the possibility of this destructive practice. Our State relies on clean beaches for our economic and environmental well-being. Oil drilling in our state marine waters, which extend approximately three miles into the Atlantic Ocean and 10 miles into the Gulf of Mexico, is simply too great a risk to take."

In order to stop any future attempts by the Florida Legislature to allow near-shore oil drilling on our coasts, Save Our Shores has formed a coalition with Save our Seas, Beaches and Shores, Inc. to coordinate a citizens’ petition drive to place the ban on the November 2012 ballot.

BALLOT TITLE: Prohibiting oil drilling in Florida waters seaward of Florida's mean high tide line.

BALLOT SUMMARY: Prohibiting oil drilling for exploration or extraction in and beneath Florida waters from the mean high tide line to the outermost boundaries of Florida's territorial seas.

Is there ANYTHING about that ballot summary that needs explanation?

We believe that the residents of Florida deserve the right to vote on this and urge you to Download the Petition.