Some of Florida’s natural wonders will be protected from oil and gas drilling, thanks to two major deals announced yesterday by President Bush. The first, a completed $115 million buy-back of drilling leases off the shores of Pensacola, will protect the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico, while the second, which offers companies a total of $120 million in cash or future drilling credits in exchange for retiring their mineral rights in the Everglades, must be approved by Congress. Environmentalists rejoiced over both deals, but it wasn’t lost on anyone that the agreements were extraordinarily at odds with the Bush administration’s push to expand oil and gas exploration in the rest of the nation. National Environmental Trust President Phil Clapp described the deals as “a $235 million campaign contribution to the Re-Elect [First Brother and Florida Gov.] Jeb Bush Committee, courtesy of U.S. taxpayers.” Interior Secretary Gale Norton defended the administration’s quixotic approach to energy development policy, saying that, “Each case must be evaluated individually.”
