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Florida Senator Bob Graham was hard at work. Today is a Biscayne National Park tour guide. Graham selected the job as his final work today for 1987 to address one of his major goals for 1988. Graham and other environmentalists are trying to stop a federal government plan that would allow oil exploration exploration in the Florida Keys.

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Graham says the keys are a national treasure and should not be jeopardized to provide this nation with little more than a few days of its oil consumption needs. There's just a little more than a day left. Another politician was in town for a tour, and he was Florida Senator Bob Graham.

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Today. He performed his 211th workday as a tour guide at Biscayne National Park News Center Sevens. Bud Fraga says it's his last work day in 87 Graham used it to push one of his top goals for 88 saving Florida's shoreline from offshore drilling. The irony seemed appropriate.

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Graham was greeting park visitors as they stepped off the boat, designed to operate from offshore oil rigs for Graham and other environmentalists. It's hoped the boat is never used for anything but carrying passengers. Florida Keys The mouth of the Apalachicola River Everglades National Park. Those are not places that is in the nation's interest to drill for oil and take the risk that come from that.

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Oil drilling In a five year plan, the U. S. Department of Interior will allow oil exploration off the coast of Florida, beginning at the Northern Keys all the way around the peninsula to the Gulf of Mexico. Where AM and environmentalists want the federal government to exclude drilling from the keys to Sarasota and allow oil exploration from that point on, with a 30 mile coastline buffer, there are treasures that are not just hours for a few years to rip and take all the benefit that we want out of that we've got a responsibility not only to our generation but to future generations.

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1968. The federal government realized how precious this natural resources by establishing the Biscayne National Park to quote, preserve and protect this great national beauty, Graham says Permitting offshore drilling doesn't make sense. Just like you wouldn't in fact put a prison in a highly concentrated population area.

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You wouldn't drill for oil in an area that had as rich and environmental resource is the Florida Keys. Graham hopes the logic of that argument and thousands of signatures from Floridians opposed to the offshore drilling will persuade the federal government to modify its plan. Senator Graham summed up the issue this way.

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Is providing this nation's oil consumption needs for a few days worth the possible destruction of this everlasting environmental treasure? This game. National Park But Braga News Center seven. Bob Super says all those clouds out there don't necessarily mean. Federal plans are still on the books to open up large sections of Florida's coastline to offshore oil drilling, but opponents are getting up a last ditch effort to protect the beaches.

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This force, Nick Bogert, reports they are mobilizing politicians to get the Interior Department to change its mind. Senator Bob Graham is 211th. Workday took him to Water's edge. He pulled a day's duty as a ranger at Biscayne National Park. Where are you from? But even as he greeted tourists in his Interior Department uniform, Graham was attacking interiors.

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Plans to lease offshore drilling rights to oil companies over the next five years. The government plans to take bids for drilling rights for 145 million offshore acres. The plan would leave a buffer no drilling within three miles of the Atlantic shore, 10 miles of the Gulf Coast and parts of the Keys would get special protection.

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But Florida politicians and environmentalists want a 30 mile offshore buffer statewide and no drilling at all in the Keys and Florida Bay. It is not a recommendation to ban all offshore oil drilling. It is a recommendation to protect the sensitive areas within the waters adjacent to the state of Florida from damage.

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Environmentalists have been busy passing petitions, and today they pass them on to senator playing Ranger Graham, who will pass them in turn onto Interior Secretary Donald Hodel, an advocate of offshore drilling. But an advocate that Graham hopes can be won over. The fact that he has indicated that he will accept Governor Martinez invitation to come and visit the Florida Keys in January is a good sign.

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Graham and virtually every other politician in the state agree that drilling would threaten the coastline, environment and offshore reefs assets vital to South Florida's economic health. And he says the offshore oil payoff does not justify the risk. The Interior secretary is to make his final decisions on oil drilling off Florida by November of next year.

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Senator Graham hopes the secretary's visit here next month, along with petitions and political pressure, will bring about a change of heart by mid 1988 on Elliott Key. Nick Bogert is four hotels. Invitation is to go scuba diving in the keys with Governor Bob Martinez. Opponents of the drilling hope he will enjoy himself enough to want to keep the diving areas clean.

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The cold front kicked up. Senator Bob Graham dawned a Park Rangers uniform for one of his famous work days today, and the drill was no oil drilling in the Keys or Florida Bay or within 30 miles offshore Florida. Anywhere else his Interior Department get up notwithstanding, the senator was at Biscayne National Park, where he blasted the oil lease program advocated by Interior Secretary Donald Goodell.

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Environmental activists gave Graham anti drilling petitions containing close to 80,000 signatures. If the senator believes he'll have at least 100 20,000 signatures to show the secretary, which he hopes will alter his aims, is supposed to come to the Florida Keys in January. He'll have a chance to see for himself.

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He will have a chance to read all these petitions and understand the depth of opposition. I hope that before the first lease is granted later in 1988 that Secretary Hotel will change his mind and sink this bad idea. Graham, of course, is not the only Florida politician at that point of view.

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In fact, you would be hard pressed to find one who didn't share it. Oh, Bob, I got your New Year's resolutions all set. No, but I have a or to Senator. Bob Graham gave an environmental slant to his political work day today. He was a Ranger on Elliott Key and took time to announce that 100,000 people have signed petitions against Florida's offshore drilling in Bali.

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Our position in Florida has not been one of no drilling anywhere. Anytime we've said that there can be drilling in areas that are environmentally acceptable and where there's been adequate studies to determine that there would not be an undue risk to environmental resources or two aspects the economy and we've had oil drilling off the coast of Florida, but the Florida Keys Everglades National Park, Apalachicola Bay.

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Those are not places that are appropriate for oil rigs. The petition signatures will be sent to United States Interior Secretary Donald Hodel. There's still no decision I shouldn't Florida Environmentalists are sending a signal to Washington. They're fighting the federal leasing of Florida waters for offshore oil drilling, and they're getting help from U.

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S Senator Bob Graham. Graham took a break from his work day today. The park Ranger on Elliott Key to accept more than 100,000 petition signatures that he'll take to the U S. Interior Department campaign was started by the Save Our Shoreline Environmental group. A Dead Issue Jim.

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The fight to keep offshore oil drilling out of the Florida Keys is taking a new turn tonight. Channel six News reporter Mark Godino was on hand as the latest shot. This one in the form of petitions, was fired. It is nature's best handiwork, thousands of years of crafting and sculpting available to everyone, but environmentalists say it may be in danger.

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It is a fight generally about the ability of states to protect their environment from encroachments that the federal government may want to allow what could be encroaching on these waters, possibly oil derricks. If the Department of Interior has its way, companies will be drilling for oil off Florida's coast.

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This is a pearl. That's that's the best part of coming down. Thousands of Floridians agree and are signing petitions trying to convince Interior Secretary Donald Goodell not to open up Florida's sensitive shores among their supporters, Senator Bob Graham. I would hope that when he sees these petitions that that will reinforce the importance of this issue to the people of Florida and the depth of their opposition.

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The reason Senator Graham and the Ottoman Society decided to highlight Elliott Key was because this area is environmentally sensitive and the idea of having offshore drilling scares them in a number of ways. It also could scare off potential tourists. 55,000 came to the park last year alone.

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17 year veteran captain Ed Davidson ferries folks through the islands. The idea of drilling three miles offshore scares him. A lot of stuff is irreplaceable. It's just simply irreplaceable. Once you damage it or stressed it beyond a certain point, Um, you're talking about kissing off thousands of years worth of God's handiwork Secretary Hotel will see some of that handiwork when he visits next month.

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