Gulf Coast Senators Landrieu, Nelson Clash Over Oil Spill

Words flew between Democratic Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Bill Nelson of Florida over their divergent responses to the oil spill that will affect industries in both of their states, The Hill reports. Both are considered moderates, but their disagreement comes over which industry should be protected in the spill's aftermath: tourism, one of Florida's biggest income generators, or off-shore drilling, Louisiana's largest industry.

Landrieu, the more conservative of the two, defended the oil industry last week, saying the explosion at a BP drilling rig was tragic but unlikely to happen again. Nelson, who is more cautious about future drilling, shot back with a study that showed Florida's tourism industry brings in $65 billion -- exactly the same amount drilling generates in Louisiana.

"What you have is people up and down the Gulf Coast in an absolute panic right now," Nelson said. "Do you not think that's going to translate through to members of Congress? . . . Not Mary. Not Mary. Don't ever think that when it comes to oil drilling that Mary's going to change."

Landrieu said that Nelson and others who want to slow the progress of offshore drilling are overreacting. "I'm not inflexible, but facts are inflexible. . . . And the facts are that we've drilled 1,000 wells in the Gulf, and all of them have been drilled with safety and with no disruption," she said.

Over the weekend, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was occupied with more immediate concerns: keeping the spreading oil spill out of his state's wetlands, which serve as crucial environmental barriers for hurricanes and are a key component of marine life food chain. Jindal said the state was in talks with BP and the Coast Guard about building up Louisiana's barrier islands -- something government officials and scientists have advocated for years.