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So is the government moved by this critical mass? Hardly. The Prime Minister shared his thoughts today, but for context we precede it with the comments of the coalition's co-chair Edilberto Romero.

Edilberto Romero, Co-Chair, Coalition
"Most important however is the fact that the environment and the people do not have adequate protection from impacts of offshore drilling and exploration. The risk is too high, the more we do our research, the more we are convinced that offshore drilling is too risky and that an oil spill will only be a matter of time. The risk far outweigh the benefits. If the government cares for the tourism industry; if the government cares for the fishing industry; if the government cares for the marine resources; if the government cares for the barrier reef, the coral and our unique atolls, the government should do the right thing, place a ban on offshore oil exploration and drilling and a ban on oil exploration and drilling in protected areas."

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"We will have to weigh very carefully the options and take into the account the views this coalition and the views of the general public but if you wish me to say from now that there will be any moratorium on offshore drilling I am not going to say that, I indicated that the matter doesn't come up for a practical determination for couple of years that's enough time to be able to think this thing through to see what the similarities are to what has happened abroad, see what the differences are and try to get expert advice, try to put in place safeguards in the event we are going to proceed with offshore drilling. I have said that there are commercial contracts to consider so I am not going to prematurely take opposition in favor of any moratorium on offshore drilling at this juncture; I am simply not going to do that."