New College Professor Frank Alcock to Present Report on “Oil & Gas Exploration in the Gulf” to Florida House on Monday

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March 12, 2010 – New College of Florida Associate Professor of Political Science Frank Alcock, a Fellow with the Collins Center for Public Policy, will present the Center’s report entitled “Potential Impacts of Oil & Gas Exploration in the Gulf” to the Florida House of Representatives Select Policy Council on Strategic & Economic Planning in Tallahassee on Monday, March 15. The meeting is scheduled to take place from 3:15-6:15 p.m. in Webster Hall (212 Knott Building) at The Capitol.

During the 2009 legislative session the Florida House passed HB 1219 Regulation of State Lands and Oil and Gas Resources. HB 1219 would have removed existing prohibitions against granting leases on state-owned submerged lands and against granting permits to explore for and develop oil or gas resources in state waters.

In November 2009, Senate President Jeff Atwater called upon the Century Commission – along with Florida State University’s Institute for Energy Systems and Economic Sustainability (IESES) and the Florida Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research – to assist the Senate with a detailed and comprehensive review of the implications of offshore drilling.

In responding to the charge from Mr. Atwater, the Collins Center for Public Policy, which staffs the Century Commission, developed the report to be delivered by Alcock as a resource for the citizens of Florida. Research was conducted by Collins Center staff with the assistance of an expert advisory group. The report is structured around four topics:

  • Regulatory Framework,
  • Resources, Economic Benefits, and Energy Independence,
  • Environmental Risks, Permitting and Accident Response, and
  • Aesthetics and Opportunity Costs.

A copy of the report is available at www.CenturyCommission.org.

The principal researchers and authors of the report were Alcock and Tom Arthur, who serves as director of the Collins Center News and Information Service and is a former senior editor for the Tampa Tribune.

In addition to his work with New College and the Collins Center, Dr. Alcock is also the director of the Marine Policy Institute at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota.

For more information on the report, contact Century Commission Executive Director Tim Center at 850-219-0082 x 104 or 850-212-8438 (cell phone). For additional information related to Professor Alcock, contact the New College Office of Public Affairs at (941) 487-4150 or email [email protected].