Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 8-7-09

FEATURED STORIES

Florida Bay's ecology on the brink of collapse
By Brian Skoloff
The Associated Press
Boat captain Tad Burke looks out over Florida Bay and sees an ecosystem that's dying as politicians, land owners and environmentalists bicker.

Pipeline Leak in Gulf: Oil Spills Do Happen
Staff Report
Lakeland Ledger
Some 63,000 gallons of crude leaked from a cracked oil pipeline 30 miles off the Louisiana coast late last month.

Chance at $2.3B a year spurs Florida politicos to rethink oil-rig opposition
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Congress is offering Florida potentially billions of dollars in royalties if the state bows to the growing clamor to expand oil and natural gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.

Both Major Candidates for Florida Governor Oppose Offshore Drilling (audio story)
By Tom Flanagan
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Neither the Democratic nor Republican candidates for Florida governor seem impressed by the growing clamor for oil and gas drilling off the state's coast.

Charlie Crist cooling on climate change
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Charlie Crist is cooling to global warming.

Judge to decide next step for U.S. Sugar land deal
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Water managers once hoped their plan to borrow as much as $2.2 billion for Gov. Charlie Crist's land deal with U.S. Sugar would breeze through judicial approval, setting aside just three hours for the hearing seven months ago.

Study points to carbon-capture benefits of Florida public lands
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Florida's state parks, forests and other public lands some day could pay millions of dollars to the state annually for the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are captured and stored in plants and soils, according to a recent study.

Navy Does FL Right Whales a Wrong (includes audio)
By Glen Gardner
Public News Service Florida
Groups in Florida committed to protecting the North Atlantic right whale say the Navy has made an end run around environmental protections in announcing construction of its Undersea Warfare Training Range off the Florida and Georgia coasts.

DEP requests approval of Levy Co. nuke plan
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Take action: August 11th Tallahassee meeting info from Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is asking the governor and Cabinet to approve Progress Energy's site application to build a nuclear power plant on 3,105 acres in Levy County.


From nature coast to nuclear coast: groups working to oppose Progress Energy’s Levy County nuclear plant include Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, the Green Party of Florida and NoNuke.org.

MORE GREEN NEWS

Burmese Python Hunt Extended
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Related: Governor visits FWC
The open season on Burmese pythons is being extended past its October 31st end date.

Neither Sink nor McCollum endorse Crist climate goals
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
With CFO Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum ahead early as the leading candidates for governor, neither is being specific on whether they would keep the state's greenhouse gas reduction goals put in place by Gov. Charlie Crist.

Clyde Butcher continues to capture mystique of the Everglades
By Jeff Klinkenberg
St. Petersburg Times
As much as I love Clyde Butcher's Everglades photographs, I think I love watching him take a photograph even more.

Panther killed on I-75
By Eric Staats
Naples News
A Florida panther was struck by a semitrailer and killed overnight near mile marker 90 on Interstate 75 in Collier County, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.

Brazen Young Panther Killed a Long Way From Home
By Lisa Rab
Broward New Times
​Males. When they're young and brash, trying to mark their territory and impress girls, there's no telling what they'll do. Run off to Georgia, even, and get themselves killed.

Rough year for turtle hatchlings
By Kate Spinner
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Dozens of sea turtle nests are hatching now, but street and residential lights are drawing hundreds of them away from the water, according Mote Marine Laboratory.

Anglers Divided Over New Florida License Program
By Damien Cave
New York Times
One of the few things Eddy Corea enjoys since being laid off 18 months ago is fishing from the shore.

Scientists searching for elusive largetooth sawfish
By Neil Johnson
Tampa Tribune
Scientists will spend the next three months looking for what may be a phantom with fins.

State parks feeling budget cuts
By Amanda Nalley
Tallahassee Democrat
Stabilizing the Lake Overstreet trails at Maclay Gardens State Park is high on the park's priority list for maintenance requests. The estimated cost: $30,000.

Experts reduce hurricane season forecast
By Eliot Kleinberg
Palm Beach Post
El Niño's emergence has led the Colorado State University team of William Gray and Phil Klotzbach to reduce their forecast for this hurricane season.

Dispute over Everglades funding finally settled
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
After eight years of bickering, the state and the federal government have finally shaken hands on how to split the massive bill to restore the Everglades.

Public needs a voice in land-use changes
By Daniel Shoer Roth
Miami Herald
The epic battle waged by Lowe's to build a superstore on land protected by Miami-Dade's Urban Development Boundary ended last week when Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet voted against the home-improvement chain.

The truth about Florida Hometown Democracy
By George Niemann
Hernando Today
The person on the street, pretty much anywhere in Florida, will attest to the fact that we all have seen the way we live change significantly as a result of Florida's booming growth.

Offshore drilling risks offset rewards
By Roland Loog
Gainesville Sun
Related editorial: Messy business
With our economy facing many challenges, offshore oil drilling has become an increasingly important topic for Floridians.

The Gulf and the 10th Amendment (audio story)
By James Call
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Pressure is growing to allow drilling off Florida's Gulf coast.

Push back on drill push
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
The bill is labeled "The Domestic Energy Security Act of 2009," but the more accurate name would be "The Help Louisiana and Alaska at the Expense of Florida Act of 2009."

Nothing slick about spills
Editorial
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Some 63,000 gallons of crude leaked from a cracked oil pipeline 30 miles off the Louisiana coast last weekend.

Keep Florida safe from offshore drilling
Editorial
Miami Herald
When the Florida House of Representatives this spring passed a bill to allow oil and gas drilling three miles off Florida's coast, Senate President Jeff Atwater called the measure ``dead in the water,'' and it went nowhere.


Endangered wood stork soaring above Fred George Basin, June 2009.

Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

"it's all connected"

Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 7-10-09

FEATURED STORIES

Local governments sue over Florida's new growth-management law
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
A group of local governments, including several from South Florida, sued Gov. Charlie Crist and the Legislature on Wednesday, accusing the state of violating its constitution in passing a growth-management law that opponents bash as a developer-relief act.

More than half of Florida cities qualify for growth exemptions
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
More than half the cities in Florida now qualify under a new state law as "dense urban" land areas which can be exempted from state review for adequate roads to accompany development, according to a list published today by the Florida Department of Community Affairs.

Progress Energy's proposed Levy County nuke plant hits another roadblock
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
Related: Progress Energy's plan to hike rates criticized at public hearing
Progress Energy's plans for its new Levy County nuclear plant hit another potential roadblock Wednesday when an arm of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled that the Green Party of Florida and two other groups can challenge the plant's federal permit.

Progress Energy's proposed nuclear plant could face environmental challenges
By Fred Hiers
Ocala Star-Banner
Progress Energy's road to building its proposed nuclear power plant in Levy County is becoming anything but smooth.

A year later, U.S. Sugar deal euphoria fades
By Charlie Whitehead
Naples News
It’s been over a year since Gov. Charlie Crist made a splash with his announcement the state would pay U.S. Sugar $1.75 billion for 180,000 acres south of Lake Okeechobee.

Delays, price hikes make a muck of $800 million Everglades project
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
Deep in the cane fields south of Lake Okeechobee, a massive construction site sits abandoned along U.S. 27, its dreams for the Everglades unfulfilled.

Global warming forecast shows potential problems for Florida
By Tony Doris
Palm Beach Post
More drought, more flooding.


Juvenile endangered wood stork foraging in Fred George Basin, Leon County, June 2009.

MORE GREEN NEWS

Fla. Supreme Court: Amendment wording approved
By Brent Kallestad
Associated Press
The Florida Supreme Court says a revised financial impact statement on how much a proposed growth management amendment could cost taxpayers now complies with state law.

Facing enviro criticism, Crist says he's helping economy
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Gov. Charlie Crist today defended his record against environmental criticism by saying he's looking out for the state's economy.

Florida Wrestles with Its Python Problem
By Tim Padgett
Time Magazine
Floridians are generally not flummoxed by the variety of reptile species that invade their state.

Nelson urges federal ban on Burmese python following death of 2-year-old
By Eun Kyung Kim
Tallahassee Democrat
Holding up the skin of a 16-foot Burmese python, Sen. Bill Nelson told a Senate panel Wednesday that the snakes pose a serious threat to Florida's environment and residents.

Local nests a good sign for struggling turtle
By Kate Spinner
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Hatchlings from one of the world's rarest sea turtles -- the Kemp's ridley -- emerged from their nest last Sunday on Casey Key, a positive sign for a species that was near extinction three decades ago.

Water managers bow to legislature, abolish in-the-sunshine board votes on permits
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
Powers to permit a developer to pave over wetlands or tap the region's water supply will pass from the South Florida Water Management District's governing board to its top administrator, the board voted today.

Water managers ponder relaxing sprinkler limits for 5 years, despite calls for conservation
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
It may seem strange, but in its effort to promote water conservation, the South Florida Water Management District could move water restrictions from two to three days a week.

DEP's Sole defends water bill signed by governor
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Sole is defending Senate Bill 2080 following harsh criticism of Gov. Charlie Crist for signing the measure.

'Green' yards get a break: Florida offers protection
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
When state Sen. Carey Baker proposed a law encouraging Florida homeowners to get rid of thirsty grass, he had Dorothy Bombera in mind.

'Brownfield' need cleaning?
By Rebecca Basu
Florida Today
Cocoa is one of several Florida cities recently awarded $400,000 in federal stimulus money to help clean up "brownfields," properties that may be contaminated by hazardous chemicals or pollutants.

Local efforts boost recycling as state eyes 75-percent goal
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
With the state now working toward a goal of 75 percent recycling, some innovations may hold promise in Florida's future of waste management.

Florida needs to increase clean energy jobs
By Melissa Hincha-Ownby
Mother Nature Network
MoveOn.org hosted a Clean Energy Jobs Day in Florida to help promote awareness about green jobs in the Sunshine State.

FWC requests comments on draft of imperiled species listing changes
Staff Report
TC Palm
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is seeking public input on the first draft of rules to revise Florida’s imperiled species listing process.

Federal stimulus money for Florida's reefs a sound investment
Editorial
Miami Herald
Federal stimulus money is paying for more than roads and bridges during this economic downturn. Ecological projects are part of the mix -- and that bodes well for Florida.


Endangered Kemp ridley turtle.

Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

"it's all connected"

Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 2-27-09

FEATURED STORIES

Money, White House pick revive Everglades restoration hopes
By Curtis Morgan and Lesley Clark
Miami Herald
After years of tepid support, Washington appears primed to jump-start stalled Everglades restoration.

Wakulla Springs protection zone, workshop in the works
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Environmental News
See our recent post for related info
With Tallahassee seeking federal money to upgrade its sewage treatment plant, Wakulla Springs supporters now are focusing more attention on the threat to groundwater posed by septic tanks.

Bill encouraging growth angers environmentalists
By Brandon Larrabee
Florida Times-Union
See our recent post for related info
A new proposal aimed at encouraging development in urban areas to cut sprawl and juice the economy is running into resistance from environmental organizations and growth-management groups.

A lot of people rethinking nuclear power
By Russell Ray
Tampa Tribune
Visit NoNuke.org here
When Progress Energy announced plans more than two years ago to build a nuclear plant in Levy County, the project was met with little resistance.

Sansom's friend pushes for toll road through nature preserve
By Craig Pittman
St. Pete Times
Visit Nokuse Plantation’s website here
A developer closely linked to former House Speaker Ray Sansom is pushing for a new toll road to slice through a nature preserve that taxpayers spent $16.5 million to save from development.

Maybe the bears could just take taxis
By Howard Troxler
St. Pete Times
Related article: Swiftmud delays vote on Pasco land swap with developer SunWest
Florida has its own subspecies of black bear: ursus americanus floridus. It once lived all over the state, but we have hemmed it into a few remaining areas, six or eight depending on how you count.


An estimated 12,000 bears once roamed the area that is now Florida. Approximately 1,000 to 1,500 Florida black bears survive today.

MORE GREEN NEWS

Stimulus to help utilities go green
By David Hunt
Florida Times-Union
The federal stimulus package is expected to pump nearly $125 million into renewable energy projects in Florida, according to state documents.

Gainesville Betting on Solar Energy
By Zac Anderson
Gainesville Sun
Mike Roach is not your typical energy entrepreneur.

Florida State, City of Tallahassee cleared of violations in biomass project
By Bill Cotterell
Tallahassee Democrat
A grand jury quickly and emphatically cleared city and Florida State University officials of any legal or ethical violations Tuesday in planning the aborted biomass electricity project south of Tallahassee.

Lawmakers to Consider Reducing Fla. Pollution
By Brian Skoloff
Associated Press
With much of this peninsular state situated at or below sea level, parts of Florida could disappear under water if global warming predictions indicating significant sea level rise come true.

King of Spain, Fla. gov discuss renewable energy
By Jennifer Kay
Associated Press
Spain and Florida, which already share so much history, are poised to share in a future based on renewable energy projects that create new jobs and solve environmental problems, King Juan Carlos said Friday.

FL State Parks Are Back in the Game
Audubon of Florida News
Hooray! The proposal to temporarily close nineteen state parks and transfer another three to the agencies that hold title to them was not included in the Governor’s budget.

Funding brings safe haven for endangered manatees
By Robby Douglas
Citrus Daily
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) announced Monday there's $1.5 million in the 2009 federal appropriations bill for preserving and protecting Three Sisters Springs in Citrus County.

The Story of Leonard Abess, Banker
By Alan Farago
Counterpunch
In his first speech to Congress, President Obama briefly bonded with popular outrage at Wall Street's excess and greed.

Edison Farms’ vision, Mother Nature’s nightmare
By Nancy A. Payton
Naples News
Jason Wagoner’s Feb. 16 Guest Commentary, “Edison Farms fulfills vision for Lee County, Red Sox,” might better be titled “Mother Nature’s Nightmare.”

Loosening safeguards a bad move
Editorial
Ft. Myers News-Press
Business opportunities exist in good times and bad, and the shrewdest individuals look to take advantage of crisis situations.


Endangered wood stork in flight over Fred George Basin, May 2008. Photo courtesy Richard Baas.

Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

"it's all connected"

Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 12-12-08

FEATURED STORIES

Saving the Fred George Basin
Reported by Liza Park
WCTV CBS News Tallahassee
Environmentalists have been working for two years to save what's left of the Fred George Basin and Tuesday night their work paid off.

Biomass hearing draws a crowd
By John Crawford
Tallahassee Democrat
For all intents and purposes, Wednesday night's public hearing dealing with the proposed BG&E biomass plant was over before it began.

Progress Energy plans nuclear power plant north of Tampa
By Alex Pickett
Creative Loafing Tampa
Related Tampa Tribune article: Progress Energy rate hike generates controversy
Florida doesn't get much more rural than Levy County.

Refusing to save Florida's springs
Editorial
Ocala Star-Banner
In each of the past three years an influential state lawmaker has introduced a bill into the Florida Legislature to initiate a meaningful springs protection program.

Bush revises protections for endangered species
By Dina Cappiello
Associated Press
Just six weeks before President-elect Barack Obama takes office, the Bush administration issued revised endangered species regulations Thursday to reduce the input of federal scientists and to block the law from being used to fight global warming.

Florida's imperiled species struggling to survive
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
A very quiet drama is playing out in Florida as rare grasshopper sparrows and snail kites face extinction while panthers, black bears and bald eagles find new hope after a once-uncertain future.




MORE GREEN NEWS

Florida sugar giant decries rival's Everglades deal
By Craig Pittman
St. Pete Times
Florida's two sugar giants slugged it out in public Friday, arguing over whether Gov. Charlie Crist's proposed buyout of U.S. Sugar is actually a sneaky government bailout of an ailing company.

Farm bureau blasts U.S. Sugar deal; government group expresses concerns
By Jennifer Sorentrue and Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
A major Florida farming group came out today against the state's $1.34 billion land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. - just days before South Florida water managers are set to vote on the purchase.

Lawmakers seek to postpone vote on sugar deal
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Miami-Dade lawmakers, with a litany of concerns over state's sugar land-purchase deal, asked for a legislative review.

Crist, Fla. Cabinet OK $7 million land deal
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet have agreed to pay $7 million for a conservation easement in central Florida opposed by an environmental group.

Tallahassee residents debate, learn more about biomass plant
By Angeline J. Taylor
Tallahassee Democrat
Voices in favor of and in opposition to the proposed biomass plant in Tallahassee continued to ring out at different events Monday.

Lawmakers: Cut off energy company's ‘advanced recovery cost’
By Ryan Burr
Panama City News Herald
Two Florida lawmakers on Monday requested Progress Energy Florida Inc. suspend indefinitely its "advanced recovery cost" on customers that was designated to pay for two nuclear power plants.

As U.S. Sugar vote looms, job-fearing Glades residents demand action from Crist
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
With just nine days left until water managers vote on a $1.34 billion land deal aimed at rescuing the Everglades, residents of neighboring farm communities have a question for Gov. Charlie Crist: Who's going to rescue our jobs?

Agencies lower water levels in the Everglades, save wildlife
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
With some help from nature, agencies have dropped water levels in the Everglades and ended the threat of massive wildlife losses.

Growth binge gives Florida a hangover
By Kenric Ward
TC Palm
The development industry is the Viagra of Florida. At least it used to be.

Save the turtle
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Floridians have been trying to save sea turtles since the late University of Florida naturalist Archie Carr began to track their migratory patterns nearly half a century ago.

State Needs Tougher Rules To Protect Softshell Turtles
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Charlie Crist, who successfully fought plans to take the manatee of the state's endangered list last year, is once again using his influence on behalf of an imperiled Florida creature.


Action alert: Click the Florida Turtle Conservation Trust logo above to learn how you can help ban wild freshwater turtle harvesting.



Wildwood Preservation Society is a non-profit 501(c)(4) project of the Advocacy Consortium for the Common Good. Click here to learn more.

"it's all connected"