West to Bachmann: Everglades are off limits

A letter Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) sent Tuesday to Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) drew a clear line in southern Florida’s sand: West wants the Everglades off limits to energy exploration.

The letter to the GOP presidential candidate followed comments Bachmann made during a trip to the state on Aug. 29, in which she highlighted her openness to new energy sources.

“The United States needs to be less dependent on foreign sources of energy and more dependent upon American resourcefulness,” Bachmann said. “Whether that is in the Everglades, or whether that is in the eastern Gulf region, or whether that’s in North Dakota, we need to go where the energy is.”

That prompted a quick rebuttal from West, who said at a town-hall meeting the next day that Bachmann’s remark was off-base, and that he would soon “set her straight.”

That opportunity came Tuesday, with a letter from one member of Congress to another.

“I understand you may not fully understand the importance of the Everglades,” West wrote, before going on to detail the history and environmental characteristics of the subtropical wetlands.

Oil drilling in the everglades has taken place since the 1940s, but has remained relatively limited. As pressure has increased to locate new and cheap sources of energy, environmental activists have pushed back against attempts to increase the extent of the exploration.

“The Everglades represents one of the most cherished treasured of the United States, and should be off limits for exploration of any kind of natural energy resource,” West wrote.

But West’s letter didn't mention an important caveat Bachmann included in her remarks.

“Of course, it needs to be done responsibly,” Bachmann had said. “If we can’t responsibly access energy in the Everglades, then we shouldn’t do it.”

As two conservative Republican representatives with national profiles and close ties to the Tea Party movement, Bachmann and West have much in common. But natural resources play differently with constituents who live near them than they do nationally.

West announced in August that he would not run for Senate against incumbent Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in 2012, but would run to keep his House seat.