Santorum Loves Drilling More than Floridians

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


Rick Santorum was asked at Monday night’s NBC debate about oil spills and tourism—an issue of vital interest to Florida, where the tourism-based economy was severely injured by the massive Gulf spill in 2010.

Rather than deal with the threat of oil spills, Santorum first blamed the state’s economic collapse on high gas prices in 2008. After making an appeal for the unrelated Keystone XL pipeline through the Midwest, Santorum argued that pipelines are better than tankers—another point that’s doesn’t have much to do with the Gulf spill, which came from neither a pipeline nor a tanker, but an exploratory drilling rig. 

Oil, Santorum concluded, is “the best way to create a good economy for the state of Florida.”

Most people in Florida—even many Republicans—would not agree with that assessment. The Republican-controlled state legislature has pledged that it has no plans to pursue drilling of Florida’s coasts. Florida has been less enthusiastic than many other states about offshore drilling because spills in the Gulf of Mexico directly imperil the very heart of its economy.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate