Bachmann: I'd consider drilling in the Everglades

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said Sunday she would consider allowing oil-and-gas drilling in the Everglades if elected president.

“The United States needs to be less dependent on foreign sources of energy and more dependent on American resourcefulness,” Bachmann said in an interview with The Associated Press in Sarasota, Fla., during a campaign stop in the state. “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.”

Before making a decision, Bachmann stressed that she would consult with scientists about the environmental implications of drilling in the Everglades, a sensitive ecosystem in southern Florida.

“If we can’t responsibly access energy in the Everglades, then we shouldn’t do it,” she said. “The experts in the field would need to be able to certify with a great deal of certitude whether we can do that. No one wants to hurt or contaminate the Earth.”

But protecting the environment and expanding domestic energy production shouldn’t be “mutually exclusive,” Bachmann said.

“We can protect the environment and do so responsibly,” she said. “But we can also protect the environment and not kill jobs in America. And not deny ourselves access to the energy resources that America’s been so blessed with.”

Bachmann and other Republicans have ramped up their criticism of President Obama’s energy policy agenda in recent months, arguing that the administration is not moving quickly enough to expand oil-and-gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Alaska and other regions.