We have heard calls for change but the Sarasota Herald-Tribune calls for America to do the same things we have been doing for over 30 years that do not work.

In their editorial, "Offshore pandering" they argue against drilling off-shore because it is a vote getter. That is putting pure politics against the best interests of the nation. That is the height of partisanship and not change. We must put the good of the Country above political party.

As I explained in detail in my column yesterday, we have been doing exactly what the Democrats, liberal left, environmentalists and media have wanted. As the Sarasota Herald-Tribune points out there has been a 27 year moratorium on off-shore drilling. They state, "So, instead of supporting realistic solutions -- such as more conservation; better fuel efficiency in cars, industry and buildings; and incentives for developing alternative energy sources -- these elected officials are pandering to voters' fears."

But we have been doing all of these things for over 30 years.

Since 1980 we Americans: Haven't drilled for our own oil. We haven't built new refineries. We have significantly increased regulatory requirements on the production of gasoline to reduce carbon emissions. We have taken lead out of gasoline to reduce pollution and added ethanol to our gasoline. Via market pressures we have increased the efficiency of our cars. We have forced the production of 45 different grades of gasoline to meet EPA and state laws on pollution levels. We have heavily subsidized solar and wind power and ethanol production at both the national and state levels. We do build more energy efficient homes and buildings. And finally of course - we have conserved.

What has this gotten us? Higher prices for gasoline, oil, and natural gas. What does this mean for Gulf states like Florida? It means a direct hit on our economy. An economy that is already reeling from the shocks of a mortgage meltdown.

According to America's Power Florida gets 29.2% of our power from coal. We get 16.9% from petroleum, 38% from natural gas and 0.1% from hydroelectric. If we had our own supply of natural gas from the Gulf we could eliminate totally our use of coal and oil. Florida power is the 13th highest in the U.S. We could become one of the lowest with our own resources lying a few miles into the Gulf of Mexico.

For every one cent increase per KwH of electrical power that is $2 billion out of our economy.

Let's look at the arguments put forth by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, which match those of Democrats and some Republicans:

Argument #1 - "Even if new offshore areas were leased for drilling today, it would take 10 years to bring their oil or gas to market." If President Clinton hadn’t vetoed legislation allowing environmentally sensitive exploration on the Coastal Plain of ANWR ten years ago, today we would have one million additional barrels of oil coming from ANWR each day, which would mean lower gas prices for consumers and more energy security right now. ANWR is estimated to contain 10 billion barrels of oil -- about 15 years’ worth of imports from Saudi Arabia. The "not bring relief immediately" mantra is simply designed to reject today's reality of high gas prices in favor of doing nothing. Doing nothing is not an option.

Argument #2 - "The United States has only 3 percent of the world's oil reserves." According to Investor's Business Daily, "In this country alone there is at least 118 billion barrels of recoverable but untapped oil, a bit more than Iraq's estimated reserves. The latest forecast indicates that there are 3.7 billion barrels of oil that are recoverable from the Bakken Formation [located in the Williston Basin that stretches through Montana, North Dakota and Saskatchewan]. However, there is much more liquid crude there. The speculation begins at 500 billion barrels and goes as high as 2 trillion barrels."

Argument #3 - "...the damaging effects drilling could have on the state's economy and environment," Actually drilling in the Gulf will reduce the possibility of an oil spill because all the oil spills in the United States to date were from tankers, not off shore drilling platforms. There are 3,739 offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico today and 3,203 lie off the Louisiana coast. There have been no oil spills from an offshore oil platform in the Gulf, none. Even during hurricane Katrina, when over 1,000 platforms were displaced, not one drop of oil was spilled. Actually, studies by Louisiana State University have found that abandoned oil rigs in the gulf become artificial reefs and cause marine life to explode.

Argument #4 - "Energy companies already hold leases for 90 million offshore acres, but only about 20 million -- less than 25 percent -- are being tapped for oil." Like anything else you go for the oil that is easiest and cheapest first based upon market demand. By opening up ANWR, the Outer Continental Shelf and the Gulf of Mexico we can get to bigger deposits, cheaper and faster. This means it gets to the market faster. More supply to meet the demand and you have lower prices. If ANWR, the Outer Continental Shelf and the Gulf of Mexico were opened to exploration and drilling by Congress tomorrow, futures traders would suddenly bail and the oil bubble would burst sending prices tumbling.

The rights to the oil and natural gas off the shores of Florida belongs to Floridians. There are in fact billions of barrels of oil and billions, perhaps trillions, of cubic feet of natural gas just 50 miles off of our shores. We Floridians have the right to this off-shore property and the right to exploit those resources contained there in. We all understand that we must extract this precious resource in an environmentally sensitive way but we must extract it.

Finally, China and Cuba can explore and drill for Florida's oil right now. Why can't we?

Congress, and our state legislators need to get it like Governor Crist and we Floridians get it. This is a pocket book issue and impacts our ability to put food on our tables, get our kids to school, keep our homes, and run our businesses.

What is that saying, doing the same thing and expecting different results is a form of insanity. We can no longer afford this insanity.