Mark Ferrulo Quotations

He clearly has the best access of any elected official in the country to the White House. And this is a White House plan to open Florida's coast to drilling.

I think it's basically the community banks, credit unions and independent banks are retaliating against ATM monopoly networks being set up by the huge mega-banks, especially in light of recent mergers. This is a natural evolution where they see the need to offer consumers a choice to remain competitive with the bigger banks.

It is not a policy debate that's being shoved in our faces right now.

We're wondering where that Jeb Bush has gone. We were facing the same fight back in 2001 with lease sale 181, but the difference then was some important people were facing re-election and we don't have that this time.

And they don't need Florida's votes in the next election either. I cannot underestimate the importance of that. They want to lease millions of acres off Florida's coast.

An oil pipeline is subject to significant oil spills.

Any pro-environmental piece of legislation has a hard road to travel in this Congress. It's not going to be a walk in the park, not with current leadership in some of these committees.

This is home to sea turtles, sperm whales, a number of charismatic species in serious jeopardy. The potential impact of a spill and the speed with which it would be brought to the southeast beaches is extremely alarming.

This is why we really emphasize people getting at least a yearlong lease. Month-to-month is dangerous, especially in Florida, because so many rental properties are being converted into condominiums. That reality can really surprise renters and hit them hard.

Allowing any drilling off the coast poses a serious threat to our way of life and our economy. We would like to see our policy-makers fighting to oppose any drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

It's clear Florida is dead in the sights of the oil industry and their allies in Congress and the White House.

It's definitely a change in position in our minds.

I know this is becoming more of a problem for a lot of people in Florida.

Combine this plan with the Domenici bill and it's clear Florida is dead in the sights of the oil industry and their allies in Congress and the White House. But the fight is far from over. It's a 10-round prize fight and we're in round 7.

Gov. Bush's aggressive efforts to protect Florida's coast led to the protection we currently have. I think most people agree we need him once again to go to the mat on this issue if we're going to win some meaningful protections.

The Florida delegation is united against it, as are most coastal states, but he has a promise it will be heard, so we're not taking it lightly. We're thinking it might only be a starting position for him.