As the special session of the Florida legislature on oil drilling began a few days ago, a new poll finds that a majority of Florida voters oppose drilling off the coast, and 71 percent want a chance to vote on the issue. The poll of 1,100 people shows Floridians favor placing a constitutional amendment banning drilling within state waters on the November ballot. State House speaker Larry Cretul has said he will not let the issue come to a vote in the special session, which some say may be over within hours.

Manley Fuller, president of the Florida Wildlife Federation, says he hopes the legislature will consider the voters’ wishes.

“The overwhelming majority of Florida voters would like to vote on this this fall. Let the people vote on this critical amendment.”

House Speaker Cretul argues that the session is political grandstanding on the part of Governor Charlie Crist, and notes that drilling is already banned in state waters, which extend for ten miles off the Gulf Coast and about three miles off the Atlantic Coast, by state law.

Fuller points out that the legislature was trying to change the law to allow drilling just three miles off Gulf beaches, as recently as this past legislative session.

He says the legislature is subject to changing with the political wind and needs to lead on this issue.

“This recent legislature departed from over 30 years of bipartisanship, recognizing the close linkage between Florida’s coastal economy and its environment. This needs to be in the constitution where the protection is permanent.”

Fuller says the Deepwater Horizon spill was only a sample of the devastation to both the economy and the environment that an oil spill could bring.

“If we were to drill and have an accident close to the shoreline, can you begin to imagine how horrible it could be? We’ve only experienced the edges of it, and it has shaken our coastal economy.”

Some lawmakers, including State Senate President-designate Mike Haridopolos, have challenged Gov. Crist to come up with a comprehensive renewable-energy package for this session that goes beyond a constitutional ban on oil drilling.