Members of the House Florida delegation were marshalling forces yesterday in an attempt to defeat an amendment to an energy appropriations bill that seeks to block construction of the 744-mile Gulfstream Natural Gas System pipeline that would transport gas from Mobile Bay, AL, across the Gulf of Mexico to the Sunshine State.

Debate on the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill, which contains the anti-Gulfstream bill, is expected to continue today and be followed by a vote on the House floor.

The Gulfstream project, a joint venture of Duke Energy and Williams, is being held hostage in a growing rift between the Florida delegation, which opposes offshore drilling, and lawmakers from Texas, Louisiana and Alabama, which have long supported exploration and production off of their coasts.

Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-AL), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water development, dropped the anti-Gulfstream amendment into the energy spending bill earlier this week in retaliation for the Florida delegation’s move to bar drilling off the coast of Florida in an interior appropriations bill, which passed the full House last week.

The fact that the vote on Florida offshore drilling came at a time when six of the seven-member Alabama delegation weren’t in Washington D.C. only fanned the flames more. This may have been “unintentional,” but it still was “short-sighted,” said Joe Bonner, Callahan’s chief of staff.

Callahan has nothing personal against the Gulfstream project. “He’s not opposed to it.” The reason for his amendment was “real simple,” said Bonner. “He just feels that Florida can’t have it’s cake and eat it too. He believes that states that don’t support exploration shouldn’t get any of the benefits. If Florida wants the fuel, then perhaps they should reconsider their opposition to drilling” off the state’s coast.

Furthermore, Bonner noted the Florida measure, which was co-sponsored by Reps. Jim Davis (D-FL) and Joe Scarborough (R-FL), doesn’t simply prohibit drilling off of Florida, it would bar offshore drilling in the entire eastern Gulf of Mexico until April 2002. Florida lawmakers seem to have forgotten that other states — Alabama, for instance — have an interest in the Gulf, he said. “You can’t just keep taking our [drilling] options off of the table.”

Four members of the Florida House delegation — Davis, Scarborough, Karen Thurman (D) and Mark Foley (R) — are expected to offer an amendment today to remove Callahan’s anti-Gulfstream measure from the appropriations bill. A spokeswoman for Rep. Dan Miller (R-FL), through whose district Gulfstream would run, said “we have been assured that the [Callahan] provision itself will probably not get very far.”

If Callahan’s measure should survive floor debate, Rep. C.W. “Bill” Young (R-FL), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has vowed to remove the section during conference on the bill, which would probably occur in September, a spokesman said.

It’s unlikely that the Gulfstream amendment would have any real impact on the project, given that the pipeline already has received its permits and has been certificated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, noted the Young aide. “It’s too late to tell them that they can’t build this now.” He conceded, however, problems could arise if Gulfstream would need to modify its permits.

The anti-Gulfstream amendment to the energy appropriations bill would bar FERC from using any funds allocated under the legislation “or any other act” to “complete the remaining reviews and issue further authorizations to proceed” with the construction of the Gulfstream project.

FERC issued a certificate for the $1.7 billion Gulfstream project in February. The pipeline has a targeted in-service date of June 1, 2002, and would offer Florida customers pipeline-on-pipeline competition for the first time ever. The market has long been dominated by a single pipeline, Florida Gas Transmission.

When completed, the Gulfstream pipeline will run from Mobile Bay, AL, under the Gulf of Mexico and come ashore on the west coast of Florida near Tampa, where it will supply 1.13 Bcf/d of natural gas to the growing power generation market in the state.

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