Rob Moher

President and CEO, Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Naples

Leadership in the Florida House of Representatives is preventing House Bill 451 -- the fracking ban bill -- from being heard in committee. This is not acceptable. We cannot let this bill die based on leadership’s refusal to give it a fair hearing.

Fracking has been a hot-button issue in the Florida Legislature in recent years. More than 90 counties and cities have passed local fracking bans or ordinances, representing more than 50 percent of all Floridians.

Fracking and fracking-like activities pose an enormous risk to Florida’s ecosystem and tourism industry because it can result in surface oil spills and water contamination, and involves a massive waste of precious freshwater supplies.

This year, for the first time, there is strong bipartisan support from a number of lawmakers throughout the state that would effectively ban these risky drilling techniques.

Senate Bill 442, and its companion HB 451, would ban all forms of extreme well stimulation, including hydraulic and acid fracking, as well as matrix acidizing. While the bill would ban these practices -- which inject hazardous chemicals underground and result in waste of freshwater resources for a one-time industrial process -- it would not impact access to mineral rights through conventional methods of oil drilling.

SB 442, sponsored by Sen. Dana Young, R-Tampa, was heard in its first committee on March 7. It passed with unanimous support, yet the companion bill has yet to be heard by its first committee.

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida has been actively involved in this legislation and in building support with lawmakers in both chambers of the Legislature. We thank the leadership of Sen. Young and the House bill sponsors, Reps. Mike Miller, R-Orlando, and Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, for their hard work and leadership on this issue. Their advocacy for a ban on fracking in Florida has moved this issue to the forefront of the debates in Tallahassee.

Together, the House and Senate bills have a total of 38 co-sponsors, to whom we also express our gratitude. The Conservancy will continue working with the bill sponsors to help ensure that this important legislation – and the strong protection it provides to Florida’s natural resources -- is signed into law this year.

According to House leadership, the final week is here for initial bills to be placed on a committee agenda. This important piece of legislation has not been placed on an upcoming agenda and deserves to be heard.

Please tell Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Florida House Majority Leader Ray Rodrigues to honor the democratic process and allow HB 451 to be heard in its first committee, regardless of whether they support the bill or not. Contact them at:

Ray.Rodrigues@myfloridahouse.gov or 850-717-5076

Richard.Corcoran@myfloridahouse.gov or 850-717-5000.

To learn more about the Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s position on this issue, visit www.conservancy.org/policy.

Moher is president and CEO of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, based in Naples

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