Republican Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said Sunday that if it can be done in an environmentally responsible way, the Everglades ought to be on the table for energy exploration, though she didn’t specify whether she was talking about oil, gas, something else, such as biofuel, or all of the above.
She also subtly backed the idea of possible new Gulf of Mexico drilling closer to Florida in the “eastern Gulf.”
In an interview with The Associated Press, Bachmann, a congresswoman from Minnesota, said the nation needs to be less dependent on foreign sources of energy and look within its own borders.
“And so whether that is in the Everglades or whether that is in the Eastern Gulf region, or whether that is in North Dakota, we need to go where the energy is,” Bachmann said. “But of course it needs to be done responsibly. If we can’t responsibly access energy in the Everglades then we shouldn’t do it…..No one wants to hurt or contaminate the Earth.”
Bachmann was in Florida for several campaign stops over the weekend.