Oh, in case people didn't keep up. Despite what Dick Cheney and George Will said, China is not drilling for oil 60 miles off the coast of Florida
The appearance, then disappearance, of Red Chinese oil platforms on the Florida coast | Political Insider | ajc.com
This is from the Miami Herald:
”Reports to the contrary are simply false,” Martinez said…“They are akin to urban legends. China drilling off the coast of Cuba only 60 miles from the Keys, that is not taking place… Any talk of using some fabricated Cuba-China connection as an argument to change U.S. policy has no merit.”
But only minutes later, in front of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Vice President Dick Cheney jumped in with more gasoline for the fire, or at least unrefined light crude:
“Oil is being drilled right now 60 miles off the coast of Florida. But we’re not doing it. The Chinese are, in cooperation with the Cuban government. Even the communists have figured out that a good answer to high prices is more supply.”
Several other Republicans immediately picked up the vice president’s message, including U.S. Rep. John Linder, who wrote this for Tuesday’s editions of the Gwinnett Post:
”Floridians oppose drilling 125 miles off shore for fear of a spill harming their beaches. However, China is drilling 50 miles from Key West on behalf of Cuba, which will then sell the oil to China. Why do we want them to have oil we could have?”
— But also on Tuesday, the following correction appeared at the tail end of a George Will column:
In a previous column, I stated that China, in partnership with Cuba, is drilling for oil 60 miles from the Florida coast. While Cuba has partnered with Chinese companies to drill in the Florida Straits, no Chinese company has been involved in Cuba’s oil exploration that close to the United States.
Cheney’s office, citing the error in the Wills column, had already issued a retraction of the vice president’s statement late last week. “It is our understanding that, although Cuba has leased out exploration blocks 60 miles off the coast of southern Florida, which is closer than American firms are allowed to operate in that area, no Chinese firm is drilling there,” Cheney’s office told the AP.