8. GULF SPILL:
Fla. radio ads tout bill to send fines to Gulf Coast states
Published:
Radio ads hit Florida airwaves today urging voters to tell candidates to support legislation that would send most of the Deepwater Horizon fines to the five Gulf Coast states.
The $30,000 campaign, paid for by the lobbying arm of the Environmental Defense Fund, will include 55 broadcasts over the next two days of the 60-second spot on news-talk radio stations in Jacksonville, Tallahassee and the Tampa Bay area.
The goal is to plant the issue squarely in voters' minds before tonight's Republican presidential debate and next Tuesday's Florida primary, according to Elizabeth Thompson, EDF's director of congressional affairs and president of the Environmental Defense Action Fund.
"All candidates for public office need to know that newspapers and voters in Florida and the Gulf Coast across the political spectrum consider support for this Gulf restoration bill an important litmus test to determine which candidates they will support," Thompson said in a statement.
The bill in question, called the "RESTORE Act," would send 80 percent of the Clean Water Act penalties paid by the companies deemed responsible for the spill to the five Gulf states -- Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas -- to pay for economic and environmental restoration projects.
Without a change in the law, most of the money would flow into the federal Treasury to be used for future oil spill cleanups.
One analyst recently told Reuters that a final settlement with the Department of Justice could be reached in the coming weeks and is likely to be between $20 billion and $25 billion.
Nine out of the 10 Gulf-state senators are signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, which was originally proposed by Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu. Landrieu said this week the bill is "very close" to having the filibuster-proof support of 60 votes in the upper chamber and that Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) is meeting with House leaders to try to build support and win their endorsements (E&ENews PM, Jan. 24).
One hurdle is finding an offset for the $1.2 billion price tag assigned the bill by the Congressional Budget Office. Landrieu has proposed extending an 8-cent-per-barrel oil drilling tax for three years.
Here is the full script of the radio ad:
Unbelievable!
Did you know that Florida and other Gulf states will NOT get ANY of the 5 to 20 billion dollars in estimated fines for the BP oil spill, unless Congress takes corrective action?
To right this wrong, Florida Senators [Marco] Rubio and [Bill] Nelson have joined over 40 members of Congress to co-sponsor the RESTORE Act.
This rare bipartisan bill would ensure that 80 percent of the BP oil spill fines are dedicated to restoring the Gulf Coast's ecosystem and economy.
One study shows that the RESTORE Act could generate jobs in nearly 100 Gulf Coast businesses.
No wonder nine Florida newspapers have endorsed the RESTORE Act.
In fact, a recent poll shows over 70 percent of Florida Republicans, tea party supporters, independents and Democrats are more likely to support candidates who support the RESTORE Act.
Join them.
Tell candidates: If they want your support, they should publicly support the RESTORE Act.
Paid for by Environmental Defense Action Fund.
