Florida is getting ready to unleash a crack team of lawyers against BP after the oil company refused Florida’s request for a $50 million grant for tourism promotion to fightback against misconceptions created by the oilspill.

Oilspill cleanup on Florida beach

Florida has already spent the initial $25 million that BP gave the state to produce and run tourism ads. As the BP funds ran out, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist asked BP to fork over another $50 million for tourism promotion.

Speaking at a roundtable conference on Tuesday in St. Petersburg called to discuss the economic impact of the oilspill, Gov. Crist said that BP had rejected his $50 million request.

He added that the state was getting ready a team of expert lawyers to look into it if BP does not reverse its decision. In response, a BP spokesperson said that they don’t see the need to give any more at this stage.

It might actually turn out to have a silver lining, because as per an agreement with BP, the original $25m has restrictions on how it can be used by tourism boards and CVBs of local counties – solely for regional and national ads promoting the local tourism industry, and it has to be spent by Aug 18. 

Case in point – Escambia County is still debating whether or not to use it’s allotted $700,000 of BP ad money, because it’s possible that not using the money would send a clearer message that there is no oil on its beaches. The Perdido Key Chamber of Commerce’s proposal to use $239,000 of BP money for a campaign offering hundreds of free condos to attract visitors was shot down by the Governor’s office because it would have violated the agreement with BP.

So the Coast is Clear oilspill ads that Perdido Key is now likely to put out will in effect remind viewers about the oilspill, at a time when Florida is desperately trying to get the media to stop focusing 24/7 on the spill’s impact. 

Be that as it may, Kenneth Feinberg – the Director apppointed by President Obama to oversee the $20 billion BP escrow fund being setup to payout claims - is on record as saying that tourism companies claiming lost revenue because tourists didn’t turn up may not qualify for claims under the fund. 

Based on Kenneth Feinberg’s warning and BP’s rejection of Florida’s $50 million request, it doesn’t seem likely that the Gulf Coast’s $500 million request for tourism promotion is going to come through either. 

If the leak is sealed now as per BP’s July 20-27 schedule, the BP tourism grants are over and the Gulf states are going to need to go back to the usual methods of tourism promotion.

Photo – DeepwaterHorizonResponse