St. Pete Times Drilling Opponent SACE

the drilling process. She found that the drilling would destroy the habitat of the endangered piping plover.
She found that the drilling would increase the risk of oil spills, and that the risk of a major spill was higher than the company claimed.
She found that the drilling would affect the fishing industry, and that the economic impact would be severe.
She found that the drilling would affect the tourism industry, and that the economic impact would be severe.
She found that the drilling would affect the environment, and that the environmental impact would be severe.
She found that the drilling would affect the health of the people, and that the health impact would be severe.
She found that the drilling would affect the quality of life, and that the quality of life impact would be severe.

swallowing the tar balls from oil spills. She found discussions of the likelihood that any spill would wind up tainting the coastline and causing permanent damage.

"Enid always does her homework," said Susan Glickman of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, an ally of Sisskin's. When she writes op-ed articles about drilling, Glickman said, they wind up being passed around among other drilling foes "and used in testimony to Congress."

David Mica of the Florida Petroleum Council is more dismissive of Sisskin, whom he regards as something of an extremist.

"She's been a consistent naysayer," he said. "As far as she's concerned, there's never anywhere (to drill) that's far enough or safe enough."

Over the years, even though her organization has a mere 40 members, Sisskin has been interviewed by everyone from her hometown paper to National Public Radio. Her minor celebrity has not led to popularity. One letter sent to her contained one of her columns about the risks of offshore drilling with the word "LIES!" scrawled across it in capital letters.

She has been called an "eco-terrorist," she said, and more than once people who were much bigger than her have leaned in close to her face to tell her they didn't like what she had to say. Her favorite, she said, is being called "Chicken Little."

"Well you know what? The sky fell," she said.

When she gives a speech, Sisskin generally does not tell jokes. She does not banter. She gets right to the point, her New Yorker's voice carrying an urgent tone. Although she has a doctorate, she sticks to short, punchy sentences to get her message across.

At a public hearing in Pensacola on the Chevron proposal in 1998, Sisskin was one of 1,000 people who turned out to oppose drilling. When she spoke, the crowd cheered. That was the high point.

The low came in 2008 when the statewide tourism association held a forum in Tallahassee to discuss offshore drilling. The other speakers included Mica and executives from Shell Oil. Sisskin was the only one contending it wasn't safe. The association voted to side with the oil companies.

She can see the attitudes changing again as Floridians realize their beaches and coastline could be in jeopardy.

"People are walking around like there's been a death in the family," Sisskin said.

Maybe now, she said, everyone will stop contending that offshore drilling is safe and the only concern is whether the rigs are close enough to be seen from the beach.

"I think people will now finally understand that this is not some improbable, unlikely scenario," she said. "And there is no 'far enough away.' "