Some Florida senators, including Alachua County's Sen. Steve Oelrich, are looking to introduce a memorial, which is basically a resolution, suggesting the federal government allow oil drilling in places that are currently off-limits.
This would include Alaska and offshore locations near Florida. The resolution is part of an attempt to reduce dependence on foreign oil, said Oelrich, R-District 14.
Oelrich said the resolution would be nonbinding and is intended to send a message to the U.S. Senate.
"Coming from the third largest state in the Union, I think it would have an impact, and I'm hopeful that other states will follow suit," Oelrich said.
In addition to drilling for oil, the resolution will also suggest opening more nuclear power plants and utilizing more natural gas nationwide.
Oelrich said countries the U.S. is receiving oil from, such as Venezuela, are not friendly toward the U.S., so America should try to reduce its dependence on them.
"We'll try to be as environmentally sensitive as we can," Oelrich said, "but we still need those reserves and need not to let them lay idle when we're dealing with countries that can literally name their price."
He said this is nothing new, and China has already started drilling off the shore of Cuba.
Oelrich also said he would want the offshore rigs 25 miles or more off
the coast so they cannot be seen from beaches.
UF economics professor David Denslow said the extra drilling would eventually reduce the cost of oil, but not by much.
"I think you're talking about less than 10 cents a gallon," Denslow said, adding that it would depend on the amount of oil the new drilling stations would produce in relation to the global reserves.
He said expanding oil production in the U.S. would also help reduce the country's trade deficit and keep the dollar from depreciating to an extent.
Denslow said the biggest factor to be considered is that it would reduce U.S. dependence on OPEC, or Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which would increase world stability.
Oelrich said he hopes the resolution will give senators an opportunity to take a stand on the issue.
The resolution is intended to get the dialogue started about changing U.S. energy policy.
"This is not to discourage people from developing other alternate forms of energy, but we need time, and we also need to get more control," Oelrich said.
