Florida Keys: the next ANWR?

Cuba's new plan to build offshore wells between it and the Florida Keys has aroused a heated reaction from certain US lawmakers.  Most significant is the pressure being placed upon Washington to revise its decade old ban on oil drilling in coastal waters, with the debate now centering around Fidel and Florida.

Put Cuba, China, and India together, plop them 50 miles off US territory where they will extract oil and natural gas, and you get yourself a ready made political storm.  From the New York Times:

Cuba's drilling plans have been in place for several years, but now that China, India and others are involved and fuel prices are unusually high, a growing number of lawmakers and business leaders in the United States are starting to complain. They argue that the United States' decades-old ban against drilling in coastal waters is driving up domestic energy costs and, in this case, is giving two of America's chief economic competitors access to energy at the United States' expense.

The drumbeats for "energy independence" have begun to beat again, but this time in a different locale.  The Times article cites the resources in the Cuban zone to equal only 3 months of typical US usage, based off the results of the US Geological Survey.  Would the US zone, currently off limits, really provide much more?  Is this area all that significant?  Certain people think so:

"My fear is for the future of America," said Representative John E. Peterson, Republican of Pennsylvania, who has collected more than 160 co-sponsors for a bipartisan bill that would open coastal waters for development of natural gas. "We have a natural gas crisis, and it's the biggest threat we have to the American economy."

Senator Larry E. Craig, Republican of Idaho, took narrow aim at the activities planned for the Florida Straits and recently complained on the Senate floor, "Red China should not be left to drill for oil within spitting distance of our shores without competition from U.S. industries."

At stake is some of the most fragile, and beautiful ecosystems in our country.  Unlike the remote, barren reaches of the Arctic National Wildlife Preserve, the Florida Keys are enjoyed by millions of tourists and an equal number of flora and fauna.  The reefs and mangroves of the Keys are already experiencing drastic negative changes, well described in this article from 2003:

Much of the living coral has been wiped out. Birds -- far fewer in number -- seek shelter in fewer places. Much of the original mangrove forest has been replaced by condos and sea walls. Once crystal clear water is now green with algae much of the time -- damage brought on by water over-enriched with human sewage from septic tanks and boats, from stormwater runoff and from fertilizer.

Placing oil platforms off the Keys, in essence simply to spite Cuba and save political face, is not the answer.  The area, even compared to ANWR, has positively little to contribute to the overall energey dependence problem.  The rightwing spin machine will turn this into a Us vs. Them issue, with Them being the Bad Guys of Cuba and China.  In reality, it's an issue of politicians with no foresight and blinding stupidity versus endangered species and precariously posititioned ecosystems.  As Cuba's plans turn into reality, be prepared to see this story reappear again, but with more forcefulness and a greater need for those who care about the environment to take an ANWR-like stand.