On April 26 2011, Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos said that new oil drilling is needed in the Gulf of Mexico, a reversal from last year, when, in the wake of the BP spill, he said Florida was going to “turn the page” away from drilling.

Haridopolos, who had been pushing for new drilling near Florida up until the April 20, 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon and the largest oil spill in U.S. history, called that spill “a game changer.” 

Now he has changed positions again, saying that $4 gasoline is all the reason we need to open Florida's coastline to offshore drilling. Unfortunately, the facts are not with the Senator and drilling near our precious beaches would have no measureable impact on the total oil supply or prices. It would merely put our coastal environment and economy at risk for the sake of allowing oil companies to sqeeze out slightly higher profit margins.