(01-14-2018 08:06 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(01-13-2018 10:36 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-10-2018 06:56 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  So maybe one of you can explain Ryan Zinke's comments yesterday when he took Florida off the offshore drilling list.

"Florida is obviously unique," he said after a brief meeting with Gov. Rick Scott (R-Fla.). He explained in a statement that Florida's "coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver."

As compared to California which has no tourism? Already, numerous other Governors are asking for their waivers and pointing out how important their coastlines are. Maybe the problem is Trump doesn't own land in their states?

http://theweek.com/speedreads/747786/rya...-questions

Have you ever gotten into the water in California?

They don't get tourism from their beaches. Florida is all about the beaches. And Florida is pretty unanimously opposed. Plus the Keys have irreplaceable coral. They already have limits on commercial shipping in the corridor.

Come on, you're nuts there. Santa Barbara, Malibu, Santa Monica, Venice, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and San Diego are among the busiest beaches in the U.S.. Yes, Northern California beaches are much colder and people are more apt to drive along the coast than actually get into the water, but you have whale-watching excursions all along the coast, to say nothing of boat tours, eco-tourism, volleyball tournaments, concerts and outdoor festivals, and surfing events.

Apparently Oregon is working hard on getting its exemption. I think Zinke blew it and will have to cave in to any state wanting an exemption. When all is said and done, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi may be the only states with visible offshore drilling locations.

And yes, I lived there from 1977-1986 when I was 13-22 in Huntington Beach and Santa Monica. I had some high school classmates at Marina HS that went to the beach every single day during the summer (and many days during the school year too). This was before they were that concerned with skin cancer and I suspect they look much older now than their actual ages, but that's why LA is also the plastic surgery capital of the world.

ETA - here's a link which backs up my post. 9 of the top 25 busiest beaches in the U.S. according to this list are in California (compared to 8 in Florida). Surprisingly though, #1 on this list is in Delaware.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-most-p...o-honolulu

How many people over 17 actually get in the water? Southern California Pacific beaches are pretty cold too. And there's nothing oil could do to San Diego's beaches that Mexican sewage doesn't already do more of. Remember the Santa Barbara oil spill? Its not like California doesn't already have drilling and oil.

Just because people go by the beach when they are in California doesn't mean they go to California FOR the beach.