Commissioner Vana Joins Southeast Florida County Colleagues in Call for Action on Oil Disaster

	Commissioner Vana « Previous | Next »

On June 24, 2010, Commissioner Vana joined partners in the Southeast Florida Climate Compact for a regional press event to respond to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in an urgent call for comprehensive federal energy policy and a demand for a permanent ban on oil drilling and exploration in Florida’s territorial waters and along Florida’s outer continental shelf. The Climate Compact dates to October 2009 when Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties jointly convened a landmark event – the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Leadership Summit. At the event, the regional Climate Compact was unveiled, establishing a partnership between the four counties in legislative policies and planning activities relating to climate change and energy policy at national and state levels. 

The compact counties, who jointly represent 5.5 million residents and approximately one-third of the State of Florida’s economy, have a long history of strong opposition to oil drilling activities in Florida’s waters. This opposition has been driven by a firm understanding of the untenable risks that such activities pose for South Florida’s sensitive environmental resources and economy. The devastating nature of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill has not only served to reinforce this long-standing policy position but also to generate more recent calls by the compact counties for a comprehensive federal energy policy designed to substantially reduce our nation’s overall reliance on domestic and non-domestic sources of oil and to lead the transition to a clean energy economy. The environmental and economic consequences of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill provide irrefutable evidence of the need for immediate federal and state action. 
 
“The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has shown us the havoc that an oil spill almost 50 miles offshore can have on the economy and environment.  It is time to have the political will to ensure that we never again experience such a disaster,” said Commissioner Vana. “We must not let the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill fade from our memories without real action from Washington and Tallahassee.”

Climate Compact partners include Broward County Commissioner Kristen Jacobs, Miami Dade Commissioner Katy Sorenson and Monroe County Commissioner George Neugent.