Why should Florida ban offshore oil drilling?
Florida should keep offshore oil drilling banned because a single major spill risks tens of billions in tourism, fishing, and real estate value, while the state's own economy runs on clean beaches and healthy water. David Jolly's position is to continue banning offshore drilling, not expand it, building on Amendment 9's 69% voter-approved state-waters ban from 2018.[1]
The case, at a glance
The risk is not worth it
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster spilled roughly 4 million barrels of oil and damaged Florida's Panhandle beaches and fishing economies for years.[2]
Why this matters
For a long time, Florida agreed on one thing. Protect the coast. That agreement crossed party lines. Now the line is being pushed. More platforms. Closer to shore. The current administration is determined to expand drilling in the Gulf even as leaders on both sides of the aisle in Florida ask it not to.[5]
This isn't an abstract debate. It's a memory. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster released an estimated 3.2 to 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf over 87 days, the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history, and it damaged Florida's Panhandle beaches and fishing communities directly.[2] Once it's gone, you don't get it back. That is the lesson the state already paid for.
The economic case
Florida's largest industries live on the water. Visitor spending reached about $134.9 billion in 2024, supporting roughly 1.8 million Florida jobs.[3] The saltwater fishing economy generates approximately $9.2 billion a year, with Florida leading the nation in number of anglers.[4] The broader ocean economy contributes tens of billions in GDP.[6] Every one of those numbers collapses when the beaches close.
Offshore drilling, by contrast, creates almost no Florida jobs. The rigs are based out of Louisiana and Texas ports, not Florida. David Jolly's framing is simple. For most people, you lead with your heart because protecting a clean environment is the right thing to do. But if you want to lead with your head, there's an economic reason to do it too. The potential losses from a spill are vastly larger than the potential gains from opening Florida's waters.[7]
What David Jolly proposes
The position is to continue banning offshore drilling, not expand it. Florida already has two layers of protection: Amendment 9, approved by 69% of voters in 2018 and locked into the state constitution for waters near the coast, and the federal moratorium on the Eastern Gulf that runs through June 30, 2032.[1][8] But an executive moratorium is not binding on future presidents. Only the state-waters ban is truly locked in.
This isn't drill baby drill. It's stewardship with a bottom line. Jolly's broader environment plan pairs the drilling ban with clean energy expansion and climate resiliency investment. This page answers one question. For the full plan on Florida's environment, see the issue hub.[7]
David and Laura Jolly on why Florida's coast is worth protecting, and what expanded drilling would risk.
Frequently asked questions
Q. Why oppose offshore drilling if it could create Florida jobs?
Offshore drilling in the Gulf creates very few Florida jobs because the rigs are based out of Louisiana and Texas ports, not Florida. What Florida loses in a Deepwater Horizon-scale spill (tourism revenue, fishing industry, real-estate value, ecological damage) runs to tens of billions of dollars. The 2010 spill of approximately 4 million barrels damaged Florida's Panhandle for years.[2] Florida's tourism economy and ocean economy both depend on clean beaches and healthy water. The risk-reward math doesn't favor opening Florida waters to drilling: the potential losses are vastly larger than the potential gains.[3]
Q. What is Amendment 9 and what does it do?
Amendment 9, approved by Florida voters in 2018 with 69% support, banned offshore oil and gas drilling in Florida state waters (within 3 nautical miles of the Atlantic coast and 9 nautical miles of the Gulf coast). It is locked into the Florida Constitution and cannot be removed without another statewide referendum at 60% support. The amendment provides one layer of protection against offshore drilling expansion; the federal moratorium on the Eastern Gulf (currently set to expire 2032) provides the second. Amendment 9 also banned indoor workplace vaping. It was a bundled ballot measure that critics later cited as an argument against bundling.[1]
Q. What is U.S. offshore drilling policy?
The U.S. operates a Five-Year Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program managed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which sets where and when offshore lease sales occur. The Eastern Gulf of Mexico is currently under a federal moratorium through June 30, 2032, extended by President Trump in September 2020. The Pacific Coast is under a longstanding moratorium. The Atlantic Coast has been opened and closed multiple times across administrations. Most active U.S. offshore drilling is in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico. Executive moratoriums are not binding on future presidents. Only Congressional action gives full legal protection.[8]
Q. What if I work in oil and gas in Florida?
Florida's oil and gas sector is very small. Almost no Florida workforce depends on offshore drilling, because Florida's state waters are constitutionally protected (Amendment 9, 2018) and the federal Eastern Gulf is under moratorium through 2032. Most Florida energy-sector employment is in utility generation, solar installation, and natural-gas distribution. The clean-energy transition is creating energy-sector jobs in Florida. The IRA is projected to create about 85,000 jobs by 2030, concentrated in solar, EV, and grid resilience.[9] David Jolly's plan would accelerate that direction rather than reverse it.
Q. What if I work in tourism?
Florida's tourism economy is the largest sector of the state economy: visitor spending exceeded $134 billion in 2024 and tourism supports roughly 1.8 million Florida jobs across hospitality, recreation, and related industries.[3] Every red tide event, hurricane, beach erosion incident, and water-quality crisis directly suppresses visitor spending the next quarter. Florida's broader ocean economy contributes tens of billions in GDP annually and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, with more recent analysis putting the total impact in the range of $96 billion in gross state product and 909,000 jobs in 2023.[6] The argument for environmental protection in Florida is not philosophical, it is economic.
Q. What if I am a commercial or recreational fisherman?
Florida's saltwater fishing economy generates approximately $9.2 billion in annual economic impact, with Florida leading the nation in number of saltwater anglers.[4] The industry depends directly on healthy estuaries, coral reefs, and water quality, all of which are stressed by oil spills, red tide (the 2017-2019 event cost an estimated $2.7 billion), algal discharges, and hurricane damage to coastal habitats.[10] Environmental protection is direct economic protection for the fishing industry. David Jolly's "head and heart" framing speaks directly to fishermen who feel the impact every season.
Q. Hasn't opposing offshore drilling had bipartisan support in Florida?
Yes. For a long time there has been bipartisan agreement to ban offshore oil drilling at least within a certain distance of Florida's coast. Amendment 9 passed with 69% of voters in 2018, well above the 60% threshold required for a constitutional amendment.[1] David Jolly notes that even when the current president suggests drilling, leaders on both sides of the aisle in Florida step up to ask the president not to do it. The state-waters ban is not a partisan issue. It is under attack now from the current administration's push to expand drilling closer to shore.[5]
Q. Why not expand drilling if cleaner energy is on the way anyway?
David Jolly's argument is that expanding drilling makes no sense precisely because cleaner energy is available. Once natural resources are gone, you don't get them back, and the "drill baby drill" movement creates a more fragile environment, puts natural resources at risk, and carries both an economic and a quality-of-life impact.[7] Florida ranks 3rd nationally in installed solar capacity, and the state is projected to receive roughly $62.7 billion in clean power investment by 2030.[9] In an era of emerging clean energy, drilling in the Gulf is something Florida should continue to put an end to, not expand.
Sources
- Ballotpedia, Florida Amendment 9 (2018), https://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Amendment_9 · 2018-11-06
- NOAA, Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, https://www.noaa.gov/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill · 2010-04-20
- Visit Florida Research (2024 tourism impact), https://www.visitflorida.org/resources/research/ · 2024-01-01
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Saltwater Fishing, https://myfwc.com/conservation/value/saltwater-fishing/ · 2024-01-01
- David Jolly, Offshore drilling protection (video), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIjFTGHBLxo · 2026-04-01
- Florida Atlantic University, Florida Office of Ocean Economy, https://www.fau.edu/ocean-economy/economy-at-a-glance/ · 2024-01-01
- David Jolly, Investing in Climate Resiliency, Clean Water, and the Ocean Economy, https://davidjolly.com/environment · 2024-01-01
- Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Oil and Gas Energy, https://www.boem.gov/oil-gas-energy · 2020-09-08
- Center for American Progress, Florida IRA Analysis, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-the-inflation-reduction-act-can-improve-lives-and-livelihoods-in-florida/ · 2024-01-01
- NOAA NCCOS, Economic Impact of Florida Red Tide, https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/news/total-economic-impact-of-2018-red-tide-now-estimated-at-2-7b/ · 2025-01-01
Once it's gone, you don't get it back.
Florida's coast is the foundation of its economy and its way of life. Have a question for David? Visit the Town Hall and ask.