Battle looms over oil drilling off Florida's coast

By Matthew Bigg

PENSACOLA BEACH, Florida (Reuters) - For decades opposition to oil drilling off Florida's coast was one of the few issues uniting the state's Democrats and Republicans, who agreed that shielding the environment and the huge tourism industry came first.

Not now, as oil prices rise and U.S. motorists are paying serious prices at gasoline pumps.

Last week Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican who often sounds like a Democrat, shattered the consensus by calling for an end to a federal moratorium on oil and gas drilling along the country's outer continental shelf.

His decision follows the stance of Republican presidential candidate John McCain on an emotional issue before November's election. Two Republican Florida congressmen also backed Crist.

What some see as a crack in the protective shield for Florida's $57 billion tourism industry has drawn howls of protest from Democrats and environmental groups.

They worry that the long battle against oil drilling in the Sunshine State has entered a new phase as spiraling gas prices threaten the status quo.

"There have been some cracks in that wall of opposition (to offshore drilling). There's no doubt about that," said Mark Ferrulo, director of Progress Florida, a nonprofit organization that supports environmental and liberal causes.

"It's primarily because the oil industry has been extremely strategic about their efforts to change public opinion," Ferrulo said, citing the effectiveness of oil companies' advertising campaign to promote energy independence.

For coastal oil drilling to resume, the U.S. Congress would have to lift a national moratorium and then Florida's legislature would have to approve drilling in state waters.

Opposition to such a plan likely would be fierce.

Environment Florida, an anti-drilling advocacy group, said it got an unprecedented response from supporters to a write-in campaign after Crist changed his position.

"This is an issue that folks care about, it seems to strike a chord more deeply than any other environmental issue in Florida," said Holly Binns, the group's director.

BLUE-GREEN SEA

Pensacola Beach barrier island, just a few hundred yards (meters) wide but 47 miles long, depends on tourism and stands to lose as much as anywhere if oil rigs spoil the view or oil slicks ruin the beach, according to business owners.

Sandy Johnston, executive director of the island's Chamber of Commerce, said she was unconvinced by arguments that high gasoline prices will hurt tourism and so efforts to lower prices down should be welcomed.