Governor Bush Joins President At White House To Take Historic Action Protecting Florida From Drilling

-- Agreements protect Florida's beaches and the Everglades --

WASHINGTON D.C.-- This morning at the White House, President George W. Bush made an unprecedented commitment to Florida Governor Jeb Bush, protecting both Florida's beaches and the Everglades from oil and gas drilling.

Previous environmental protection commitments focused on stopping the expansion of new oil and gas exploration and development in Florida. Today's action will actually buy back existing privately-owned and previously-leased rights to oil and gas interests.

The President's actions include a negotiated agreement between the federal government and several petroleum companies to extinguish existing rights to drill just 25 miles off of Florida's northwest coast near Pensacola, in an area known as Destin Dome. This area has long been recognized as the most likely to see oil and gas development off of Florida's coast and has been the subject of ongoing federal litigation.

At the same time, the President and Governor announced an agreement for the National Park Service to purchase privately-held oil and gas drilling rights within three critical portions of the greater Everglades ecosystem: the Big Cypress National Preserve (729,000 acres immediately adjacent to Everglades National Park), the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge (26,400 acres) and the Ten Thousand Island National Wildlife Refuge (35,000 acres). As a strong sign of the joint state/federal commitment to the 30-year Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, the National Park Service will purchase these rights from the Collier family, who retained these interests years ago. This announcement essentially shuts down any potential for new oil rigs in the Everglades and represents the next step forward in the historic Everglades project, the largest ecosystem restoration project in history.

Today's White House visit by the Governor builds on previous decisive action to protect Florida's precious environmental resources.

Almost one year ago, the President and Governor revealed a proposal to make their respective administrations the first to eliminate plans for any new offshore drilling off of Florida's coast. As a result, the federal government reduced plans for new oil and gas lease sales off of Florida's west coast by 75% -- for the first time ensuring no new development within a true 100-mile perimeter off the Florida coast. Previous administrations had acquiesced to drilling in areas less than 100 miles away, west of the Florida-Alabama state line.

In addition, on January 9, Governor Bush joined President Bush at the White House to co-sign, one year ahead of schedule, the first enforceable agreement to ensure that the Everglades receives all of the clean water it will need as the restoration project progresses in the future.

Today's announcement by the President and Governor builds on these two historic accomplishments by committing substantial federal resources to eliminate pre-existing environmental risks to Florida's coastal resources and the Everglades.

"The actions we are taking today to preserve Florida's environment are truly unprecedented," said Governor Bush. "Today, thanks to the President's support, we are reversing the momentum of nearly half a century in Florida and guaranteeing the preservation of our environment-based economy and quality of life."

The negotiated agreement with Chevron, Conoco, and Murphy Oil to eliminate existing plans to drill off of Florida's consistently top-ranked beaches will cost the federal government approximately $115 million. The agreement with Collier Resources to prevent the development of hydrocarbon resources in the Everglades is valued at approximately $120 million.

"The President and Governor Bush have negotiated a defining moment in Florida's environmental history," said the Secretary of Florida's Department of Environmental Protection, David Struhs. "America's best beaches and America's Everglades are now better protected than ever before for this and future generations."

-30-

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