Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Scott PowersJuly 24, 2018

Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan has launched an attack ad against his Democratic election opponent David Shapiro with blistering references to the Sarasota lawyer’s investments in gun companies, opioid drug companies, and companies tied to the Deepwater Horizon off-shore oil disaster. The new 30-second TV commercial, “Two-Faced,” outlines Shapiro’s investments while calling him two-faced and […]

A.G. GancarskiJanuary 19, 2018

Gov. Rick Scott scored a political victory earlier this year, when Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told him Florida would not be subject to offshore oil drilling. Scott asserted that he’d been “clear forever” in his opposition — a point disputed by Democrats, who have painted him as an “election-year environmentalist” who has flip-flopped on the drilling question. Friday […]

Danny McAuliffeJanuary 9, 2018

Florida is officially off the table for offshore oil drilling. U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke made the announcement late Tuesday with Gov. Rick Scott at the Tallahassee International Airport. “As a result of discussion with Governor Scott and his leadership, I am removing Florida from consideration for any new oil and gas platforms,” Zinke said in […]

Jim RosicaDecember 14, 2017

Offshore drilling for gas and oil would be banned under a proposal that cleared a Constitution Revision Commission committee on Thursday. The General Provisions Committee OK’d the proposal (P 91) on a 5-2 vote, though not after opposition from — unsurprisingly — petroleum industry interests. That piqued the ire of committee chair Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, who filed […]

Jim RosicaOctober 10, 2017

Democrats and Republicans from both sides of the Capitol rotunda came together Tuesday to back Sen. Dana Young‘s latest try to ban fracking in Florida. Also known as hydraulic fracturing, the drilling technique involves shooting water and chemicals deep underground, breaking up rock to get at oil and natural gas that’s unreachable by conventional drilling. “Advocates […]

Scott PowersDecember 7, 2016

Behind barbed-wire fences and armed guards, an unmarked, nondescript block building invisible from the road features countless surveillance cameras, a walk-in safe, explosion-proof rooms, and labs stocked with equipment that would make any college chemistry department envious, such as an inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometer. This is not Bruce Knox‘s father’s flower nursery. Not anymore. Welcome to Knox Medical LLC’s facilities […]

Phil AmmannFebruary 28, 2016

It looks like there’s one more chance this year for the Legislature to decide whether to sensibly regulate hydraulic fracturing in Florida and it will happen Tuesday at the Senate Committee on Appropriations. For those who view the failure of these bills as some kind of victory, you’re fooling yourselves. A “no” vote on Senate […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 18, 2016

The assault on Florida’s environment continues as a Senate committee last week approved a bill that would make it easier for petroleum companies to use fracking technology to extract oil and gas in the state. Lest we forget, the administration of Gov. Rick Scott has ordered the words “climate change” scrubbed from official speeches and […]

Associated PressJuly 25, 2015

Renewed hunts for oil in sensitive Florida ecosystems have environmental groups raising questions about the state’s regulation of the oil and gas industry. A Miami company, Kanter Real Estate LLC, has submitted a permit application to drill an exploratory oil well on the eastern edge of the Everglades. Meanwhile, federal approval is pending for a […]

Guest AuthorApril 27, 2015

The onshore oil and gas industry has been under heavy scrutiny during the 2015 Legislative Session, as GOP Sen. Garrett Richter of Naples and GOP Rep. Ray Rodrigues of Estero have filed legislation to provide regulatory certainty to the state of Florida that will ensure the industry is appropriately regulated. The legislation, Senate Bill 1468 […]

Tag: oil

Vern Buchanan ad blasts David Shapiro’s investments in guns, pharma, oil

Rick Scott: Offshore drilling still ‘off the table’

Rick Scott gets Donald Trump administration to cancel oil drilling plans

Offshore drilling ban clears constitutional review panel

Dana Young will try for fracking ban again

Knox Medical opens doors to Florida’s medical marijuana future

Greg Preble: Legislators should approve bill that regulates fracking

Marc Yacht: State moves fracking regulation bill forward

New hunt for oil in Florida raises environmental concerns

Brewster Bevis: Support regulatory certainty for oil and gas industry