Oil spill gives Florida's Gov. Charlie Crist pause over drilling

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist touched ground after about 90 minutes above the Gulf of Mexico today and had no doubts about where he stood on oil drilling off his state's shore: Not now, no way.

Crist was awed -- and not in a good way -- at the huge oil spill spreading from a damaged rig off the Louisiana coast and had nightmare visions of the same situation in Florida.

"Clearly it could be devastating to Florida if something like that were to occur. It's the last thing in the world I would want to see happen in our beautiful state," Crist said. "Until you actually see it, I don't know how you can comprehend and appreciate the shear magnitude of that thing. It's frightening."

Crist, who opposed drilling off Florida's coast until softening his stance over the past two years, said there is no question now that lawmakers should give up on the idea this year and in coming years. He has said previously he would support drilling if it was far enough from shore, safe enough and clean enough. He said the spill is proof that's not possible.

With Crist strapped in a backward-facing chair on a C-144 aircraft, the Coast Guard opened up the entire back of the plane to give him a wide view of the dark oil slick spreading in a 80- by 42-mile blob in the gulf.

"It's enormous. It's everywhere. It's absolutely unbelievable in it's magnitude," Crist said.

On his flight back to Tallahassee, Crist said the spill is evidence that drilling technology can't meet his criteria for drilling off Florida.

(Via AP)