A release from the party points to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and laments the fact that many of the licenses for oil exploration issued by Belize have been granted to small drilling companies who lack the ability to deal with any serious oil spill.

And so the PUP is calling on Government to institute a ban on offshore drilling and the issuance for offshore drilling, quote, "until Belizeans can be assured that all necessary measures have been taken to ensure that there will be no damage to our marine environment."

And while caving to popular sentiment is never a bad thing in politics, the PUP may be skating on thin ice in terms of moral authority because of the 7 offshore concessions blocs that have been parceled out, six were given out under the last PUP administration.