FL Wildlife Federation Pushing State Restoration Act
(Posted January 23, 2012 07:20 am)
By Les Coleman
TALLAHASSEE, FL - A telephone poll by U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio conducted late last year found that an over-whelming majority of Floridians think all of the funds paid out by BP for the oil-spill disaster should come back to the states affected, to clean up the environment.
Steve Murchie, Southeast senior regional outreach
coordinator with the
National Wildlife Federation (NWF), says that as of
now some of those funds may remain in Washington, D.C.,
coffers.
"This is an historically huge blowout, with a
correspondingly huge fine, and it's vastly more money
than the trust fund needs. It will be a windfall for the
U.S. Treasury."
Eighty-four percent of Florida voters and 92 percent of
Panhandle voters support a bill approved by a senate
committee ensuring that the BP oil spill fines are spent
on Gulf restoration.
The poll is timely. Last week, the
Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force issued
its final report, recommending that Congress ensure that
a "significant portion" of the BP oil spill fines go to
restoring the Gulf. NWF spokesman Murchie agrees.
"We don't think the BP fines from the Deep Water Horizon
blowout should go to Washington, D.C. That money needs
to come back to the Gulf States for restoration."
The Nelson-Rubio surveys sampled 700 registered likely
Florida voters in the metropolitan areas of Miami,
Orlando, Ft. Myers, West Palm Beach and Tampa. It also
includes an overall sample of 100 registered likely
voters in the Panhandle region.
National Geographic Photos are available here for viewing and purchase. Photo pictured above by Joel Sartore