Blog - Page 50 of 63 - Friends of the Everglades

VIDEO: Recapping Florida’s knack for preventable disasters

"Piney Point is a pre-existing condition," Craig Pittman joked with us during today's Clean Water Conversation. The statement exemplified Pittman's easy humor in the face of Florida's complicated and often disturbing lack of environmental concern. But it also carried weight coming from the guy who first wrote about the impending disaster that's playing out now at the phosphate plant in Manatee County in 2003. It's a poignant example of Florida's regrettable tendency towards preventable environmental disasters. During today's Clean Water Conversation, we enjoyed a few laughs but then got down to business discussing the state's many pressing environmental issues. We covered the latest at Piney Point, the possible toxic algae summer ahead, the repealed M-CORES toll roads, the threat of Aquifer Storage and Recovery wells [...]

Allie Preston2021-04-30T15:47:53-04:00April 30th, 2021|All Posts, Clean Water Conversations|

DeSantis had a chance to side with Floridians. He chose sugar.

Next time Gov. Ron DeSantis tries to claim he's not beholden to Florida's powerful sugar industry, don't believe him. DeSantis gave Big Sugar a massive gift April 29 when he signed Senate Bill 88, a measure which effectively indemnifies Big Sugar from legal action related to its harmful impacts, like the class-action suit filed by residents of the Glades communities who argue that sugarcane burning causes long-term health problems. This bill, now law, means only those who live within a half a mile of an agricultural operation can bring a legal case against detrimental impacts like the smoke from the burning fields, which can travel upwards of 20 miles. The old and young are particularly susceptible to respiratory problems caused [...]

Allie Preston2021-04-30T15:50:49-04:00April 29th, 2021|Florida Legislature, Sugarcane Burning|

Seaport preemption bills make a comeback as Friends of the Everglades joins calls for a veto

On April 27, Friends of the Everglades joined the Ocean Conservancy and dozens of other environmental organizations in sending a letter to Gov. DeSantis opposing a pair of bills, SB 426 and HB 267, that pose yet another legislative attack on home rule and the environment. The letter, which requests a veto of SB 426 and HB 267 states: "Florida’s ocean and coastal assets are a key economic driver for the state, as well as the foundation of the state’s cultural identity. Floridians live, work, and play on the state’s beaches and the reefs offshore, and visitors leave behind billions in contributions to the state’s GDP. Port authorities and local governments know their local waterways best. These waterways are the [...]

Allie Preston2021-04-29T13:53:53-04:00April 28th, 2021|All Posts, Florida Legislature, Friends of the Everglades Statements|

Friends of the Everglades Asks Gov. DeSantis to Veto SB 88

Even as we learn more about the detrimental effects of breathing in the smoke and soot from the burning cane fields, it's clear SB 88 represents an invaluable gift to the sugar industry. Today, Friends of the Everglades sent a letter to Gov. DeSantis requesting a veto of SB 88. The bill that would enact sweeping new protections for Florida farmers, shielding them from "nuisance lawsuits," sits on Gov. Desantis' desk right now awaiting his signature. The bill effectively protects “Big Sugar” from legal action related to its harmful impacts, like the class-action suit filed by residents of the Glades communities who argue that sugarcane burning causes long-term health problems. Though smoke from the burning cane fields can travel for [...]

Allie Preston2021-04-30T15:51:19-04:00April 27th, 2021|All Posts, Florida Legislature, Friends of the Everglades Statements, Sugarcane Burning|

Toxic Discharge Update: 04-20-21

Yesterday, video from the Indian Riverkeeper put an all too familiar fear at the forefront of minds for Florida residents living downstream of Lake Okeechobee. Photo taken along the shore of Lake Okeechobee at Port Mayaca by the Indian Riverkeeper. Thick mats of green sludge piled high at the gates of the S-308 structure at Port Mayaca, which connects Lake Okeechobee to the C-44 Canal. When opened, the releases that spill through those gates run a path roughly 32 miles long into the waters of the St. Lucie River. Samples taken at the site a week ago by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection measured 22 parts per billion of microcystin, nearly three times more toxic than the [...]

Allie Preston2021-04-20T17:50:37-04:00April 20th, 2021|Toxic Algae|

Everglades Illustrated: An Everglades threat looms in Homestead

The Everglades is vast, and restoration is complex. We’re breaking it down visually for you. A development frenzy is gaining momentum near Homestead Air Reserve Base in southern Miami-Dade County — and it poses a direct threat to nearby Biscayne Bay. As you can see from the map above, the proposed South Dade Logistics and Technology District (marked with a red star) lies just west of Biscayne Bay, on 800 acres currently used as farmland. If that proposal wasn’t alarming enough, now a Miami-Dade County Commissioner is pushing to convert another 700 acres of agricultural land near the Homestead air base to industrial use. “We can have an industrial revolution in South Miami-Dade County,” Commissioner Kionne McGhee told the Miami Herald. With [...]

Allie Preston2021-06-10T16:17:48-04:00April 13th, 2021|All Posts, Everglades Illustrated, Homestead Air Reserve Base|

Friends of the Everglades Mid-Session Legislative Update

No legislative body has greater control over the health of Florida’s environment than the Florida Legislature. As lawmakers pass the midpoint of their 60-day session in Tallahassee, we offer the following analysis of key bills and pressure points impacting the Greater Everglades. JUMP TO: M-CORES Repeal Everglades Oil Drilling Water Storage North of Lake Okeechobee Right to Farm Expansion Blue-Green Algae Task Force Recommendations Seaport Regulations Florida Forever It was a frightening and symbolic moment. Along Florida’s Gulf Coast on April 3, mobile phones rattled with a dire warning: Piney Point was in danger of imminent collapse. So far the radioactive phosphogypsum stack at the former fertilizer plant in Manatee County has not given way. But that’s only because workers [...]

Allie Preston2021-05-12T13:15:05-04:00April 8th, 2021|All Posts, Florida Legislature|

Introducing Friends of the Everglades at Stetson University

Introducing Friends of the Everglades at Stetson University First-ever campus chapter features student-led initiatives to advance mission to preserve, protect and restore the only Everglades in the world. Friends of the Everglades is thrilled to announce Stetson University as the home of our first-ever campus chapter featuring student-led initiatives to advance the mission originally set in 1969 by our founder, Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Located in DeLand, the Stetson campus sits in the St. John's watershed just north of the headwaters of the Greater Everglades ecosystem. This fixture of advocacy near the northernmost region of Florida’s River of Grass further cements Friends' resolve to tackle water issues that plague the state holistically, and speaks to the powerful inspiration of Everglades [...]

Allie Preston2021-04-09T09:57:34-04:00April 6th, 2021|All Posts, Friends of the Everglades Statements|

Your moment of Everglades zen: A world hidden from view

We know the bad-news reel gets old. It’s good to stop and remember what we’re working so hard to protect. Here’s your dose of Everglades zen. To the end of the world, and back again When environmental icon Maggy Hurchalla calls extending an invitation to launch kayaks from her backyard for an after-hours adventure to the "End of the World," we make a habit of trying to drop whatever it is we're doing to take her up on it. Last week was one of those opportunities. What follows is usually a mixture of spectacular sights normally hidden from view, valuable history lessons, story-telling that leaves you belly-laughing, and arms so sore that you wonder if you'll actually make it home. There are always moments of [...]

Allie Preston2021-04-09T09:57:18-04:00April 6th, 2021|All Posts, Everglades Zen|

Bad bill alert: Right to Farm legislation poses a threat to Florida

When does the "right to farm" become the "right to harm”? On Tuesday the Florida House of Representatives' Environment, Agriculture & Flooding Subcommittee voted 14-4 to advance HB 1601, which ostensibly seeks to boost agri-tourism and protect farmers from newcomers who want to curtail farm operations. But we believe the effect of the bill will be to disenfranchise the already disenfranchised, like those who live near sugar fields and find themselves hacking and wheezing when smoke from the burning cane wafts in their direction. The bill curtails their ability to sue, requiring they live within 1/2 mile of the farm in question to file a nuisance action. It also raises the burden of proof, limits damages and requires plaintiffs who [...]

Allie Preston2021-04-30T15:51:30-04:00March 30th, 2021|Florida Legislature, Sugarcane Burning|