Hello All.

    I'm sure all of us in the US are aware of the debate going on in
Congress over opening up offshore drilling.  I think this is of issue to our
members so I wanted to raise, at least, my concern here.  I used to live in
Texas (late 70s-80s) and have seen the results of oil spills from Texas or
Mexican oil rigs on Texas beaches. I have seen first-hand the clumps of tar
on the beaches and the resulting impact on invertebrates (I probably still
have some of those blackened shells). I don't believe there have been any
major spills over the last 20 years, but I for one am certainly concerned
about the future impact such an incident would have on marine life off the
Florida coast.
    Much of the debate is clearly more political than a mechanism to lower
gas prices as it would be years before oil coming from those platforms would
impact pump prices.  I think our community is uniquely positioned in that we
have members who have both a collective interest, memory, and the knowledge
base to influence the debate going on in congress.  I would urge our members
to contact your members of congress to voice your concerns over what the
impact of lifting the drilling ban has on our mollusk fauna.

For your consideration.

Doug

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