Last week, NPCA hosted the 19th
Annual Everglades Coalition Conference. More than 500 people
participated in the conference, a learning opportunity for Everglades
advocates from around the world. Coming together to learn about the
current status of Everglades restoration, new advances, and continuing
challenges to achieving success were: federal, state, and tribal
agencies; elected officials; scientists; local, state, national and
international non-profit organizations; and concerned citizens.
Both of Florida's senators, Bob Graham (D) and Bill Nelson (D), and
representatives of both parties, showed up to lend their support.
Among other distinguished speakers to address the participants were
National Park Service Director Fran Mainella and U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers Lt. General Robert Flowers.
NPCA Regional Director Mary Munson, the National Co-Chair of this
year's conference, maintains that the Everglades remains one of
America's most endangered national parks. She said that the priorities
for 2004 are to clean up the water, get two significant restoration
projects approved, and fix the rules that guide the restoration plans.
You can help to protect this unique and endangered ecosystem by
sending a letter to your members of Congress asking them to support
Everglades restoration and urging them to continue funding critical
restoration projects.
... AlB,1/28/04
THIS IS AN EXCERPT FROM A DAILY EMAIL.
THERE HAVE BEEN LAWS PASSED TO PROTECT THE GLADES FROM
THIS
KIND OF MURDEROUS INCURSION. WHY AREN'T THEY BEING
INVOKED?
... AL B,
1/14/04
ENVIRONMENT
Earth's Day In Court
The Supreme Court today has the chance to stop water
pollution from
destroying the Florida Everglades. The situation: A water
management company in southwest Broward County is dumping "as much as
423,000 gallons a minute of polluted runoff from suburban lawns, farms
and industrial yards into the Everglades." The company "doesn't
dispute the water it's pumping is polluted, but says it has no other
place to put it." The pollution is changing "the water chemistry,
killing some native plants and allowing other nonnative plants to
thrive." Perversely, the water management company says the expense
incurred to stop destroying the area would take money away from the
federal government's $8.4 billion effort to protect its environment. A
defeat for the Everglades would mean water management companies could
move polluted water wherever they wanted with no thought of the
repercussions to the environment. Says David Reiner, president of the
Friends of the Everglades, "It's a get-out-of-jail-free card for water
management agencies throughout the country."
top
9/26/03 News
Judge in Glades case removed
Comments to the media showed bias, the ruling says. That ends 15 years
of him overseeing Everglades restoration.
For 15 years, one federal judge oversaw the cleanup of the Everglades.
He pored over documents, listened to legal arguments, sifted through
scientific studies. He even toured the River of Grass by airboat.
But on Tuesday U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler was removed from the
Everglades case, not for misbehaving in court or making outrageous
rulings.
South Florida's chief judge removed him for talking to reporters.
Hoeveler's comments this spring blasting Gov. Jeb Bush, the Legislature,
the sugar industry and the South Florida Water Management District
"demonstrate an objective doubt as to Judge Hoeveler's continued
impartiality," wrote Chief Judge William Zloch.
Activists: Glades cleanup will go on
MIAMI -- Environmentalists predicted Wednesday that the veteran judge
ousted from the Everglades pollution case set such high standards for
the cleanup that the restoration will go on fine without him.
A sour taste
Big Sugar's success in judge-shopping is a big loss
for the Everglades.
With Hoeveler off case, protect Everglades
Palm Beach Post Editorial
New federal judge should name a special master.
Big Sugar wins bid to oust U.S. judge on Everglades case
Sierra Club
Action Alert:
Call Governor Jeb Bush now at 850-488-4441 and tell him to "VETO" SB626,
a
destructive bill that may allow the sugar industry to delay the cleanup
of
America's Everglades. Every day, large parts of the Everglades are being
lost because of Big Sugar's pollution. The bill, backed by more than 40
sugar industry lobbyists, would extend pollution limits and jeopardize
the
ability to truly restore this natural treasure.
* Call Florida Governor Jeb Bush at 850-488-4441 NOW and tell him to
uphold
the state's commitment to restore the Everglades by VETOING SB626, The
"Everglades Whenever Act."
* You can also e-mail the Governor at
jeb@myflorida.com
* You an also send/fax a handwritten or typed letter to:
Governor Jeb Bush
PL 05 The Capitol
400 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
Fax: 850-487-0801
-----------------------------------
The deadly "Everglades Whenever Act" (SB626) would:
- Require compliance of water quality standards only to "the maximum
extent
practicable," threatening water quality as well as endangered plant and
animal habitat;
- Eliminate clear pollution clean-up deadlines, leaving polluters to
comply
with water quality standards at the "earliest practicable date;"
- Re-open the 1996 voter-approved Florida constitution amendment that
clearly says polluters should pay. Instead, the bill states that payment
of
the bulk of cleanup costs by homeowners and other real property owners
--
instead of the actual polluters -- is fair;
- Undermine the Everglades restoration consensus between the state and
federal government.
You can
view the bill here
---------------------------------------
Miami Herald Editorial
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/editorial/5764823.htm
Fri, May. 02, 2003
VETO THE GLADES BILL
GOVERNOR MUST PROTECT STATE INVESTMENT
Members of Congress, scientists and every Floridian concerned about the
fate
of the Everglades should strongly press Gov. Jeb Bush to veto the
Everglades
bill approved this week by the Legislature.
If the governor heeds their pleas and kills this bill, he might actually
thank them someday. After all, Mr. Bush wouldn't want a tax named after
him.
And that could well be the consequences if this misguided legislation
meant
to appease Big Sugar becomes law. Members of Congress, including U.S.
Rep.
Bill Young, R-St. Petersburg, chair of the House Appropriations
Committee,
have repeatedly warned the governor and state legislators that any
weakening
of the pollution-cleanup terms in the joint federal-state agreement to
replumb the Everglades could jeopardize the $4 billion Congress has
committed to pay for the 30-year, $8 billion restoration plan.
If this bill prompts Congress to withdraw its share of funding, it will
be
Florida taxpayers left holding the bag to pay the full price tag --
instead
of only half the cost. Mr. Bush would bear the ultimate blame for that
added
burden on Floridians.
The legislation, even in a watered-down version engineered by the state
Department of Environmental Protection, still extends the deadlines to
clean
up polluted water to 2013 from the original federal-state agreement's
2006
time line. At least this bill ultimately maintained the scientifically
recommended phosphorus-pollution standard of 10 parts per billion.
Unfortunately, the language in this bill doesn't clearly mandate
enforcement
of that standard.
The state of Florida struck a covenant with all U.S. taxpayers when it
agreed to foot half the restoration bill and Congress approved paying
for
the other half. If Florida's governor and Legislature now renege on the
terms, taxpayers in the Sunshine State can expect no sympathy from the
other
states. After all, their representatives and senators have a long list
of
compelling projects in want of federal funding, too.
Defenders of the Everglades should lobby Gov. Bush to veto the
Everglades
bill every bit as vigorously as did the sugar industry's 40-plus
lobbyists
who flooded the capitol to promote this high-stakes legislation. Gov.
Bush
must guarantee that the state of Florida will keep its covenant with
U.S.
taxpayers by refusing to sign this bill.
###
For more information, contact Sierra Club at 305-860-9888.
Jonathan Ullman
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Judge
intervenes on Everglades
U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler, concerned that
legislators may delay the cleanup deadline, calls a hearing.
A federal judge, alarmed that Florida lawmakers are about to alter a
longstanding agreement to clean up the Everglades, on Wednesday summoned
state and federal officials to his Miami courtroom for an emergency
hearing.
U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler, who is overseeing the Everglades
cleanup, set the hearing for May 2 -- the last scheduled day of the
legislative session.
For weeks, powerful state lawmakers have debated whether to delay the
deadline for clean up by as much as 20 years.
Congressmen and environmental groups have howled, warning it could
unravel an $8-billion deal between the state and federal government to
restore the River of Grass. But their concerns have done nothing to
derail the proposals.
In his order, Hoeveler wrote that he has been reading "with
considerable apprehension" news stories about what state lawmakers
were doing to the Everglades cleanup plan and feared that "if we do
nothing," lawmakers will change the plan.
"I do not propose to deviate from the settlement agreement,"
Hoeveler wrote in his one-page order, saying it twice for emphasis.
The fight centers on phosphorus, a pollutant that runs off sugar farms
and suburban lawns and can tip the Everglades' natural balance so it
becomes a stagnant swamp full of cattails instead of a flowing river of
sawgrass.
State law now requires the state to cut back the flow of phosphorus no
later than 2006. Although phosphorus has been cut far below its historic
high of 300 parts per billion, state Department of Environmental
Protection Secretary David Struhs has said he doubts it can be cut to 10
parts per billion, which is what the Everglades needs, by 2006.
Struhs is pushing a 10-year delay in the deadline, while sugar growers
-- who have hired dozens of high-powered lobbyists -- have been pushing
for 20 years. Environmentalists and the Miccosukee Tribe, who live in
the Everglades, want no delay.
That 2006 deadline was established by a court settlement reached 11
years ago between state and federal officials, a settlement that was
approved by Hoeveler (pronounced HOOV-ler). The judge made it clear
Wednesday that no matter what the Legislature wants, he's not inclined
to cut the state any slack.... (more)
4/24/02
The Sugar Industry does not deserve the 5-cents a
pound subsidy they get from
the federal government; not to mention what they
get from Florida.
Pass this along,
AlB, Ft Lauderdale, 4/23/03
|
|
|
Sugar Industry Threatens to Scupper WHO
|
|
by Sarah Boseley
|
| |
|
The sugar industry in the US is threatening to bring the
World Health Organization to its knees by demanding that
Congress end its funding unless the WHO scraps guidelines on
healthy eating, due to be published on Wednesday.
The threat is being described by WHO insiders as tantamount
to blackmail and worse than any pressure exerted by the tobacco
lobby.
In a letter to Gro Harlem Brundtland, the WHO's director
general, the Sugar Association says it will "exercise every
avenue available to expose the dubious nature" of the WHO's
report on diet and nutrition, including challenging its $406m (£260m)
funding from the US.
The industry is furious at the guidelines, which say that
sugar should account for no more than 10% of a healthy diet. It
claims that the review by international experts which decided on
the 10% limit is scientifically flawed, insisting that other
evidence indicates that a quarter of our food and drink intake
can safely consist of sugar.
"Taxpayers' dollars should not be used to support
misguided, non-science-based reports which do not add to the
health and well-being of Americans, much less the rest of the
world," says the letter. "If necessary we will promote
and encourage new laws which require future WHO funding to be
provided only if the Organization accepts that all reports must
be supported by the preponderance of science."
The association, together with six other big food industry
groups, has also written to the US health secretary, Tommy
Thompson, asking him to use his influence to get the WHO report
withdrawn. The coalition includes the US Council for
International Business, comprising more than 300 companies,
including Coca-Cola and Pepsico.
The sugar lobby's strong-arm tactics are nothing new,
according to Professor Phillip James, the British chairman of
the International Obesity Taskforce who wrote the WHO's previous
report on diet and nutrition in 1990. The day after his expert
committee had decided on a 10% limit, the World Sugar
Organization"went into overdrive", he said.
"Forty ambassadors wrote to the WHO insisting our report
should be removed, on the grounds that it would do irreparable
damage to countries in the developing world."
Prof James was called in by the American embassy in Geneva
"to explain to them why they were suddenly getting an
enormous amount of pressure from the state department to have
our report retracted". The sugar industry, he discovered,
had hired one of Washington's top lobbying companies.
The sugar lobby was unsuccessful that time, but now, he says,
"we are getting a replay, but much more powerfully based,
because the food industry seems to have a much greater influence
on the Bush government".
Since his 1990 report, the International Life Sciences
Institute, founded by Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, General Foods,
Kraft and Procter and Gamble, has also gained accreditation to
the WHO and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization
At one point, says Prof James, "I was asked not to send
any more emails about any of the dietary aspects of health that
related to sugar. I was told that within 24 hours of my sending
a note, the food industry would be telephoning and arranging
dinners."
Aubrey Sheiham, professor of dental public health at
University College, London, Medical School, said he also
encountered the strength of the sugar lobby when he was one of
the experts involved in putting together an EC guideline called
Eurodiet.
"I wrote the sugar part of that," he said.
"When we met in Crete [in June 2000], the sugar people said
if the 10% [limit] was in, the whole report would be blocked. I
remember we went into a huddle with various people and some of
the diplomats, and we were meeting in people's bedrooms and
saying, how can we work around this?"
In the end, he said, they worked out that a recommendation
that nobody should eat sugar more than four times a day was
equivalent to a 10% limit. But he considered the committee had
been bullied.
The Sugar Association objects to the new report having been
published in draft on the WHO's website for consultation
purposes, without what it considers "a broad external
peer-review process". It wants a full economic analysis of
the impact of the recommendations on all 192 member countries.
In the letter to Dr Brundtland, it demands that Wednesday's
joint launch with the Food and Agriculture Organization be
cancelled.
The report, Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic
Diseases, has already been heavily criticized by the soft drinks
industry, whose members sell virtually everywhere in the world,
including developing countries where malnutrition is beginning
to coexist with the obesity common in affluent countries.
The industry does not accept the WHO report's conclusion that
sweetened soft drinks contribute to the obesity pandemic. The
Washington-based National Soft Drink Association said the
report's "recommendation on added sugars is too
restrictive". The association backs a 25% limit.
The WHO strongly rejects the sugar lobby's criticisms. An
official said a team of 30 independent experts had considered
the scientific evidence and its conclusions were in line with
the findings of 23 national reports which have, on average, set
targets of 10% for added sugars.
In the letter to Mr Thompson, the sugar lobby relies heavily
on a recent report from the Institute of Medicine for its claim
that a 25% sugar intake is acceptable. But last week, Harvey
Fineberg, president of the institute, wrote to Mr Thompson to
warn that the report was being misinterpreted. He says it does
not make a recommendation on sugar intake.
© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
|
top
FLORIDA
LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS SPECIAL REPORT
April 2003
FLASHBACK: 1994 EVERGLADES LEGISLATIVE SCORECARD
In the historic legislative controversy over several
months in early
1994, 160 legislators debated and worked through dozens of
amendments and
versions of the controversial Everglades Forever Act.
Lobbyists from the
Sugar and Agriculture industries, as well as dozens of environmental
organizations, debated with officials from the US Department of Interior
and
other federal and state agencies.
As dozens of amendments were adopted into proposed committee bills and
"strike everything" amendments, the Florida League of
Conservation Voters
(FLCV) compiled the sponsorship and voting record of each legislator.
As
part of the overall Environmental Legislative Scorecard for the 1994
Session,
the FLCV also pulled out a special report publishing the calculations and
scores of legislators and their thousands of votes on Everglades
amendments
and bills.
Each amendment and each version was rated either positive or negative by
the
environmental lobbyists, depending on whether the amendments weakened or
strengthened the ultimate legislation that would emerge that year.
Governor Lawton Chiles signed the legislation despite environmental
protests
of major provisions in the bill, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas, founder and
longtime president of the Friends of the Everglades, demanded that the
Governor remove her name from the bill, since the final legislation no
longer
signaled meaningful hope for the Restoration of the Nation's Treasure for
which she had dedicated several decades of her life.
Nineteen of those 160 legislators in 1994 are legislators again this year,
as
the Sugar industry has brought the cleanup schedule back to the
legislature,
demanding another twenty-year delay. In addition to the
nineteen, two
others of those former legislators are now elevated to statewide office,
Attorney General Charlie Crist and Lieutenant Governor Toni Jennings.
As
state senators in 1994, they each scored 100% on the Everglades Scorecard
(9
of 9 and 8 of 8 pro-environment votes, respectively). Other
current
legislators who scored 100% in 1994 included now-Senators Victor
Crist (7 of
7) and Dennis Jones (6 of 6), who were both members of the state
House of
Representatives. None of the four have spoken publicly on the 2003
legislation yet.
Senators Lee Constantine and Les Miller were also Representatives in 1994,
when they scored near the elite top of the scorecard with an overall score
of
92%.
Most other veterans, however, would just as soon not be reminded of their
scores in 1994, when the Governor's office pressured hard for
"yes" votes and
a strong contingent of South Florida lobbyists kept most of the
strengthening
amendments off the final version of the bill. Those scores
were:
Jim King 17%, Larcenia Bullard 81%, Mandy Dawson 31%, Rudy Garcia 0%,
Steve
Geller 37%, Tony Hill 18%, Ron Klein 25%, Al Lawson 25%, Matt Meadows 11%,
Bill Posey 31%, Ken Pruitt 2%, Alex Villalobos 0%, Debbie
Wasserman-Schultz
25%, Dan Webster 44%, Steve Wise 32%.
"Incredibleâ?|disdain for history"
"The shame of the current legislative debate over Everglades
Restoration,"
explained veteran environmentalist Nancy Brown, "is the seeming
disdain for
history by the legislators who should be asking hard questions of an
industry
which has for more than six decades been destroying one of the world's
most
valuable and beautiful natural systems." Brown, president of the FLCV,
was
Douglas's vice president and successor as President of the Friends of the
Everglades.
"It is incredible that Governor Bush and apparently both major
political
parties have been convinced to look the other way," continued Brown,
"after
all the years of delay already, while the industry has continued to profit
by
pollution of our natural resources. We won in 1988 the lawsuit
against the
State of Florida for failing to enforce water quality laws.
That lawsuit
promised Restoration, fifteen years ago. But it took until 1994 for
Florida
to respond and that compromise scheduled a delay until 2006. Now
greed wants
to postpone meaningful deadlines for restoration another twenty years to
2026
and we all know that such a delay is a death sentence for the
Everglades."
"Lee Constantine voted 'no' ten times against weakening the
Everglades
legislation in 1994," explained FLCV vice president Dan Hendrickson.
"Last
week, however, he forgot how to vote 'No,' when this bill was rushed
through
the Senate Natural Resources Committee. In the Senate committee,
which
passed the bill by a unanimous vote, he declared his intent to watch the
bill
carefully as it goes through the process."
Only one Representative voted 'no' in the House Natural Resources
Committee,
despite growing opposition on the editorial pages of the state's daily
newspapers. Dozens of environmental groups have already opposed the
bill.
Environmentalists have pointed to approximately four dozen high-priced
lobbyists hired by the Sugar industry in recent weeks to help the business
community grease this legislation into law.
The votes for delaying Everglades Restoration were: On April 9,
Representatives Joe Spratt, chair, Thad Altmann, Mary Brandenburg, Philip
Brutus, Mike Davis, Charles Dean, Andy Gardiner, Ron Greenstein, Will
Kendrick, Ken Littlefield, Richard Machek, Mitch Needelman, Jerry Paul,
David
Russell, Ken Sorensen, Dwight Stansel; and on April 15, Senators Al
Lawson,
chair, Nancy Argenziano, Lee Constantine, Anna Cowin, Paula Dockery,
Tony
Hill, Gary Siplin.
Only Representative Jack Seiler has voted against the bill so far.
The bills are now scheduled to go to the Appropriations committees and to
the
floor of both the House and Senate.
Federal lawmakers include eight former legislators from 1994
Eight Florida legislators from the 1994 Everglades
fight have since been
elected to Congress, where they will continue to face Everglades funding
issues. Then-Senator Ginny Brown-Waite scored 100% in 1994
(seven of seven
pro-environment votes). Other scores by today's Congresspeople were:
Allen
Boyd 6%, Ander Crenshaw 12%, Jim Davis 62%, Mario Diaz-Balart 37%,
Tom
Feeney 5%, Mark Foley 0% (none of five votes), and Robert Wexler 9%.
FLORIDA LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS is a 29 year old non-partisan
political
watchdog organization, comprised of a network of leaders from
environmental
and public interest organizations throughout Florida.
.... posted 4/23/03
top
Land doesn't meet Glades' cleanup limits
A 170,000-acre swath of cow- and crop-covered land has failed to meet its
first-year Everglades cleanup requirement, water managers said Monday.
The area in Hendry County -- west of Clewiston and known locally as
Devil's Garden -- released 77.3 tons of phosphorus for the year ending
April 30, the South Florida Water Management District said. That's about 7
tons, or 10 percent, over the limit. 8/12/03
State approves extension of Everglades farming lease
TALLAHASSEE —
Despite pleas from an environmentalist, Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet voted
Tuesday to approve a 15-year extension of a lease of farmland in the
Everglades. Nearly 6,000 acres of state-owned land in Palm Beach County have
been leased to A. Duda & Sons, one of Florida's largest agriculture
businesses, since 1963. The lease fee for the land, farmed for vegetables,
is $1.5 million.
Do better for Everglades
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Reject long lease for a polluting farm.
Struhs swims against the truth
By Sally Swartz, Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
In the real world, less Everglades protection. 7/25/03
Measure gives Congress control of restoration funds
WASHINGTON — Southwest Florida's two congressmen have struck a deal with
House appropriators that would place the onus on Congress, not four
federal agencies, to decide whether to continue sending money to Florida
for Everglades restoration.
Give Everglades guardian
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Washington must do what state didn't.
State regulators vote on Everglades rule
TALLAHASSEE —
A state commission voted unanimously Tuesday on technical rules for
how to measure phosphorous in the Everglades, a key part of overseeing the
cleanup of the massive ecosystem required by a 1992 court agreement. The
Environmental Regulation Commission finished up more than a year of work on
a rule essentially spelling out how much of the nutrient is an acceptable
amount in the Everglades and how to measure it. 7/9/03
An Everglades alarm
Palm Beach Post Editorial
As predicted, new law invites federal cuts.
Worried that a new state law means Florida won't keep its promise to clean
up the Everglades, a U.S. House panel has cut some Everglades restoration
money and tied strings on the rest to try to make the state keep its
commitments. 6/22/03
Bush signs bill he says will address Everglades concerns
TALLAHASSEE —
Gov. Jeb Bush signed a bill Tuesday intended to ease concerns of
environmentalists and members of Congress about the state's commitment to
cleaning up the Everglades. The bill, passed during a special session last
month, was meant to tighten language in a measure he earlier signed into law
earlier that critics said would delay by a decade or more the cleanup of
phosphorus pollution running into Everglades National Park from sugar farms
and suburban sprawl.
Bad attempt by sugar
The court was right to turn down the sugar industry's
attempt to derail judge.
Judge kept on Everglades case
By Robert P. King, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
A federal appellate court rejects a sugar company's bid to remove District
Judge William Hoeveler.
Everglades pollution still exceeds limits
By Robert P. King, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Despite the state's claims of success, phosphorus levels in the Loxahatchee
refuge are sometimes too high.
Democrats urge Bush to delay Everglades act
EVERGLADES
NATIONAL PARK — Flanked by the vast river of grass they said they
want to protect, several Democratic state legislators implored Gov. Jeb Bush
on Wednesday to stop implementation of the recently signed Everglades
Restoration Act. The legislators said the law threatens both the wetland
itself and the $8 billion cleanup partnership with the federal government.
They said some Democrats voted for the bill last month only because they
were duped by the Department of Environmental Protection.
7 legislators to Gov. Bush: Put Glades bill on hold
Seven South Florida Democratic legislators stood on a patch of grass near
the Everglades on Wednesday and asked Gov. Jeb Bush to delay implementation
of a new Everglades cleanup law.
Gov. Bush heads to Washington to discuss Everglades
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Jeb Bush will go to Washington Wednesday to talk with
members of Congress about a state bill that critics say would thwart
state-federal efforts to clean up the Everglades. The measure, awaiting
his signature, changes standards and deadlines for cleaning the River of
Grass, letting restoration take years longer than originally planned.
5/13/03
Everglades bill bedevils Bush
Gov. Jeb Bush suggested Tuesday that he might back down
from signing a controversial Everglades cleanup bill into law.
Governor counters critics of Glades bill
He'll meet today with leaders in D.C.
On the eve of a showdown with congressional critics over his controversial
Everglades bill, Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday launched a public-relations
campaign to stem some of that criticism.
Graham seeks president's commitment on Everglades
By Larry Lipman, Palm Beach Post Washington Bureau
The Senator wants assurances of help no matter what happens with a
controversial state bill.
Hoeveler: Watered-down cleanup 'clearly defective'
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Special master to protect Everglades interests.
Governor hears from public on pending legislation
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Jeb Bush said he plans to sign legislation delaying the
deadline for Everglades cleanup and enabling telephone companies to
increase basic rates, but opponents are still trying to change his mind.
The bills are among hundreds passed in the legislative session that come
before the governor for a signature in the next few weeks, but only a few
are the subject of intense lobbying for him to sign or veto.
Aides to Bush said there have been thousands of letters, phone calls and
e-mails on the phone-rate and Everglades issues, but the numbers were
typical for high-profile legislation. They were unable to provide a
breakdown of calls for and against.
A newspaper poll released Sunday, however, said 84 percent of those
surveyed wanted Bush to veto the phone-rate bill and 56 percent wanted the
Everglades bill vetoed. 5/13/03
U.S. judge orders Special Master for Everglades cleanup dispute
MIAMI — A federal judge Friday ordered the appointment of a special master
to oversee compliance to Everglades water cleanup deadlines and said that
he intends to enforce the current agreement, even if Gov. Jeb Bush signs a
bill that critics say could stall restoration and jeopardize $4 billion in
federal aid.
Bush, the president's brother, has said he supports the $450 million state
bill that overwhelmingly passed the state Legislature last week despite
criticism from environmentalists and at least seven members of Congress,
several of them Republicans.
It puts into law strict technical standards for how clean the water in the
massive ecosystem must be while spelling out what happens if those
standards can't be scientifically met by a 2006 deadline.
Urge Gov. Bush to veto bill that will kill Everglades Restoration
The Conservancy opposes the "Everglades Wait Forever Act"
(SB626), which delays pollution cleanup in the Everglades for at least 10
years (from 2006 to 2016) and changes the phosphorous cleanup standard
from a firm 10 parts per billion to an uncertain "maximum extent
practicable." The Conservancy and other environmental groups have
unanimously opposed this bill and its even worse companion in the House
since they sprung from the pens of sugar lobbyists during the middle of
the legislative session.
Sugar groups sway votes
Industry was fighting Everglades deadline
It was an impressive display of political power. When the sugar industry
proposed state legislation to delay the cleanup of the Everglades, the
idea was attacked by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. It was
denounced at the top of The New York Times' editorial page. A federal
judge threatened to intervene. 5/11/03
Massive changes for state parks may be on horizon
Last week's resignation of the Florida state parks director has exposed a
power struggle that could shake the award-winning state parks system to
its roots.
Wendy Spencer, 42, expected to leave her position as head of the Florida
Park Service on June 30, was asked to leave, sources said, after butting
heads with her bosses at the Department of Environmental Protection.
Some legislators and park supporters say her departure and a plan to
reorganize the parks division has them fearful the department intends to
privatize more of the parks system, which has already shifted jobs such as
mowing and maintenance to private companies in the last couple of years.
Park boosters worry what the turmoil could mean for state treasures such
as pristine springs, historic plantations and ancient sugar mills.
Several lawmakers are so angry they say they want to take control of the
park system away from the environmental protection department and turn it
over to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services instead.
Bush to consult some in Congress before signing Everglades bill
TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush said Thursday he will soon sign a
controversial Everglades bill unless Washington lawmakers give him a good
reason not to...
Howard Dean urges Gov. Bush to veto Everglades legislation
MIAMI — Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean called on Gov. Jeb
Bush to veto a bill dealing with the restoration of the Everglades
Thursday joining others in his party in opposition to the plan. Dean, the
former Vermont governor, said the legislation, approved last week in the
Florida Legislature, would weaken the 1994 "Everglades Forever Act" passed
by Congress that funds half of the $8 billion clean up of the fragile
South Florida ecosystem. "This is another example of the Bush brothers'
rhetoric not matching reality. The Everglades are a national resource we
must fight to protect," Dean said in a statement...
Struhs wins, cable sins, budget din, Paul grins
Four quick subjects over coffee...
Tallahassee weasels sell out Glades
...Why no commitment from the state's leadership to an environmental jewel
that's like no other in the nation?
Maybe because so many of them didn't grow up here, Florida's leaders have
still to this day no deep stake in what happens to this state except for
the expectation of quickie tax cuts for their pricey golf carts and other
playthings for the rich.
Those of us who grew up here -- who still remember Florida's simple joys,
like the sight of a dolphin leaping off the coast of the Florida Keys near
the southern tip of the Glades or the gurgling of Central Florida's cold
springs-fed Wekiva River or the sugary sand of the pristine northwest
beaches off the Gulf -- are sick of the pathetic posturing that passes for
leadership nowadays in Tallahassee...
Bush set to hear critics of Glades bill
He wants to sign sugar-backed plan
Gov. Jeb Bush said Thursday that he is poised to sign a controversial
Everglades bill into law unless his congressional critics can convince him
that it will endanger an $8 billion restoration project. ...
State's environmental ombudsman quietly exits post
Environmentalists have issued an all-points bulletin for Benji Brumberg,
the state's public advocate within the Department of Environmental
Protection... 5/8/03
Everglades dominate environmental issues
By Jim Ash, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
A legislature that didn't get much else done passed a bill delaying the
Everglades cleanup. 5/7/03
Judge sticks by 2006 Everglades cleanup
MIAMI — A federal judge said Friday he'll stick by a 1992 consent
agreement that farm pollution in the Everglades must reach a lower level
by 2006. U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler called for the hearing
earlier in the week to decide if legislation that moved quickly through
the state House and Senate and is now before Gov. Jeb Bush is any threat
to cleaning up the Everglades. Hoeveler is overseeing the consent
agreement that began as a 1988 lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of
Justice against Florida.... The bill (that Bush and Big Sugar interests
are backing) calls for having a plan to implement programs to reduce
phosphorus by 2006. The consent agreement calls for it to be completed by
then.
Judge holds tight to Glades plan
The sugar industry wants the state to put off cleaning the Everglades of
pollution until 2026. Judge William Hoeveler says no way.
Arrogance leaves bitter taste
Sentinel position: Jeb Bush should heed powerful congressmen who want to
save the Glades.
At first, it was just the ignorant people of Florida who were clueless
when they mandated smaller class sizes and a high-speed train. Now Gov.
Jeb Bush has added influential Republican congressional leaders to his
list of the hopelessly ill-informed.
And this time, the governor's arrogance -- coupled with his obvious
adulation of campaign donations from the sugar industry -- could have
devastating consequences. It could cost this nation the Everglades. 5/3/03
Democratic candidate Kerry weighs in on Everglades bill
TALLAHASSEE — Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry joined the chorus in Congress
expressing concern about a Florida measure dealing with Everglades
restoration, writing Wednesday to Gov. Jeb Bush to urge a veto of the
bill.
Kerry is one of several Democrats vying to take on Bush's brother in the
race for the White House next year. His letter came a day after six
Republicans in Congress urged Bush to block passage of the measure, which
deals with what happens during the next phase of the massive ecosystem
clean-up required by the 1994 Everglades Forever Act.
Bush, however, supports the bill and said earlier this week that those who
were concerned about it were reacting to perceptions of the proposal not
based in reality. ...
Legislature delays Everglades cleanup 7 years
Republicans put the court-negotiated, $8-billion restoration on hold. A
judge has called a hearing for Friday...
Delay for Everglades cleanup approved
TALLAHASSEE -- A bill delaying the cleanup of the Everglades sailed
through the Florida House on Wednesday night with little debate and was
sent to Gov. Jeb Bush, who is expected to sign it into law.
The measure, backed by the sugar industry, would put off for 10 years the
2006 deadline to curtail phosphorous runoff from farms south of Lake
Okeechobee into the state's long-polluted "River of Grass."s...
House OKs extending Everglades cleanup
By Jim Ash, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Despite controversy and fears about losing federal support, Gov. Jeb Bush
is expected to sign the bill...
Latest Everglades threat: Duped Senate Democrats
Palm Beach Post Editorial
They thought amendments to keep Everglades cleanup pure were from the
feds, but they were from the DEP...5/1/03
Manager of state parks resigns
The head of Florida's state parks has announced she will resign June 30,
leaving a position she has held for less than two years.
In an e-mail sent Thursday to park service staff and state officials,
Wendy Spencer called her time running the parks "some of the most
rewarding" of her career. She did not, however, say why she was leaving
the job that pays $89,000 a year.
Spencer, 42, did not return calls, but a spokeswoman for the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection said Spencer told her bosses at DEP
that she "was looking to pursue other interests."
A
marriage in trouble
Our position: The Everglades is threatened by Tallahassee's love affair
with sugar. 4//20/03
Bush's
sugar-coated bill
Gov. Jeb Bush is trying to sell this line to people who practice politics
for a living: Sure, we are extending a deadline that is written into law,
replacing the date 2006 with 2026, but we have no intention of delaying
anything. 4/20/03
Sugar
growers' sticky fingers spoil cleanup
The Everglades sugar growers are like the big gators that
roam the world's best-known swamp. 4/20/03
Resist pressure to bend on Everglades protection
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Sugar growers are seeking higher pollution limits. - With the election over, Florida's sugar-cane industry predictably has wasted no time in pushing the state to change rules and delay enforcement of a strict limit on the amount of pollution allowed in the Everglades. In addition, some South Florida Water Management District board members are questioning the science behind the tough standard, even though the district's own scientists, who have studied the matter for decades, support it.
The Everglades ecosystem can tolerate only tiny amounts -- six to eight parts per billion -- of phosphorus, the main ingredient in fertilizer and the pollutant that most damages the Everglades. For decades, water carrying far higher amounts entered the Everglades, harming natural vegetation and wildlife. In 1994, to settle a federal lawsuit, the Legislature passed the Everglades Forever Act, which mandated a two-phase cleanup. The first has reduced phosphorus levels to no more than 50 parts per billion. To allow recovery, scientists say the limit in the second phase should be no more than 10 parts per billion.
11/27/02
Tighter phosphorous limits: Science,
not self-interest must drive Everglades restoration
The 20-year restoration of the Everglades is barely under way and forces that helped turn the River of Grass into one of the world's biggest cesspools are already pressing the state to set weaker restrictions on phosphorous pollution. 11/26/02
SET A HIGH STANDARD
Next month, a little-known state authority could decide an issue that's vital to the future health of the Everglades. The state Environmental Regulatory Commission, an appointed body, will hear the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's recommendation to set the standard for phosphorous in water flowing into the Everglades at 10 parts per billion by Jan. 1, 2007.
11/24/02
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