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On energy, Mariano resolves to drill deeper

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BY TOM JACKSON

THE TAMPA TRIBUNE

Published: August 5, 2009

Last week, having recruited Commissioner Pat Mulieri as their conduit, Florida's green lobby was anticipating triumph in its second annual repudiation of offshore energy prospecting - a resolution denouncing said activity was on the Pasco County Commission agenda - when Commission Chairman Jack Mariano intervened.

Rolled last year when the issue came up - before the summer of $4-a-gallon gas - Mariano was itching to refute or challenge as many as half the eight claims expressed in the resolution when it was introduced this time around. But because of the press of other business, consideration of the matter was postponed.

In anticipation of its return, however, and in defense of Mariano, whose holistic approach to energy policy merits applause, it should be noted, as written, the proposed resolution sacrifices precision on behalf of expediency.

The greenies behind the resolution say hurricanes Katrina and Rita demonstrated the economic fragility and the ecologic risk of gulf-based prospecting. The Mineral Management Service, a subsidiary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, has acknowledged damaged and unmoored drilling platforms, ruptured pipelines and punctured storage tanks, resulting in dozens of spills, including several in excess of 1,000 barrels. "These are the facts," say the anti-drillers.

Yes, but these are not all the facts. Indeed, the MMS cites the aftermath of Katrina and Rita to affirm the efficacy of reforms adopted by the federal government since 1988. Ruined rigs and pipelines are part of the legacy infrastructure; rigs and pipelines installed since 1988 weathered the storm without damage or spilling, says the MMS.

Also flawed is the notion that the United States cannot eliminate or even reduce its reliance on Middle East oil through new domestic production. The United States owns only 3 percent of the globe's proven oil reserves, but in that qualifier is a universe of mischief.

Proven reserves are those the oil industry can get at now and differ wildly from the U.S. Geological Survey's analysis of "identified" and "recoverable" domestic reserves, which - including rich deposits in the Eastern Gulf - are in the hundreds of billions of barrels.

Among board members, Mariano is second to none in his enthusiasm for alternative solutions to his constituents' energy demands. But not only is he savvy enough to acknowledge that fossil fuels will remain fundamental to maintaining a modern quality of life for the foreseeable future, he has the courage to stand against what is politically popular.

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