Spill Roundup: Florida Weighs Drilling Ban

摘要

1. Florida Governor Charlie Crist on Thursday called for a special session of the state legislature to consider a constitutional amendment to strengthen the ban on oil drilling off Florida’s coast. Drilling in state waters is already prohibited by statute but putting the ban in the state’s constitution would make it much more difficult to over-turn, Crist said. He said he would call law-makers into session on Jul. 20 for four days to craft an amendment that would require approval by three-fifths of the state’s House of Representatives and Senate by Aug. 4. If it passed that hurdle, the proposal would go before voters in the Nov. 2 general election. “I think it’s important that we put this into our constitution,” Crist told reporters. “Certainly, I think it’s important that we give the people of Florida the opportunity to make this call.” Crist has been urging lawmakers to propose a constitutional ban for several weeks following the Apr. 20 blowout at a BP well in the Gulf of Mexico that led to the biggest oil spill in US history. Crist, who left the Republican Party to run for the US Senate as an independent, called the session despite a lack of support from leaders in the Republican-led state House of Representatives.