Florida environmental and wildlife news for the week ending 10-16-09

FEATURED STORIES

Florida Forever defenders step up
By Yvette C. Hammett
Tampa Tribune
Related: Read the Florida Forever Coalition press release here.
It's been an easy concept from the start. Get developers to pay for growth by preserving vast stretches of natural Florida.

County won't appeal ruling on Summerfield
By TaMaryn Waters
Tallahassee Democrat
Leon County commissioners decided Tuesday they didn't want to appeal a court ruling regarding the Summerfield development.

Land grabs fuel Hometown Amendment drive
By Lauren Ritchie
Orlando Sentinel
The city of Wildwood, west of Leesburg at the junction of Interstate 75 and Florida's Turnpike, has annexed empty land that has approval for up to 87,000 new homes.

Economic hammer pounds developers
By Michael Sasso
Tampa Tribune
Long vilified as greedy power brokers, many of the people in the business of turning open spaces into malls and subdivisions are reeling from liens, foreclosure lawsuits and bankruptcies.

Florida wants to bag the plastic
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
Florida environmental officials want to make the state the first in the nation to prohibit throwaway plastic and paper bags.

PSC showdown Friday: Can Progress Energy charge customers upfront for nuke plant costs?
By Robert Trigaux
St. Petersburg Times
What once seemed a slam dunk deal for Progress Energy -- building a new nuclear power plant complex in rural Levy County north of Tampa Bay -- is now very much up in the air.

Nuclear reactor design has safety flaw
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
The nuclear reactor design that Florida Power & Light has chosen for its expansion at Turkey Point has safety flaws, federal regulators said Thursday.

Feds need to close red snapper fishing areas
Editorial
Florida Today
Space Coast anglers -- and anyone who enjoys a seafood meal -- know why red snapper is a prized catch.


The red snapper is being fished unsustainably.

THE BIG OIL ROUNDUP

The Big Oil roundup: news and information about Big Oil’s push to rig Florida’s coastline for the week ending 10-16-09:

Federal scientists: Limit offshore drilling plans
By Jim Tankersley and Josh Meyer
Los Angeles Times
The federal government's top ocean scientists are urging the Interior Department to drastically reduce plans to open the coast to offshore oil and gas drilling, citing threats to marine life and potentially devastating effects of oil spills in Arctic waters.

NOAA urges caution in expanded offshore drilling
By Sue Sturgis
Facing South
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has called on the Interior Department to proceed cautiously with plans to expand offshore oil and gas drilling, pointing to the need to protect fisheries, marine habitat and coastal communities.

Solar group's endorsement of offshore drilling causes controversy
By Catherine Dolinski
Tampa Tribune
An association of solar energy businesses in Florida stunned environmentalists last month by declaring its support for offshore oil drilling.

What's the tie between lobbyists, oil drilling and solar power?
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald
From Progress Florida: On behalf of the tens of thousands of our members across Florida who strongly support moving our state and nation toward a clean, renewable energy future and growing a green economy here in the “Sunshine State,” we were extremely disappointed to learn about your association’s support for opening Florida’s near shore waters to oil drilling.

Solar Energy's Stockholm Syndrome
Don’t Drill Florida
Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in abducted hostages, in which the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the danger or risk in which they have been placed.

Solar Group’s Drilling Stance Spurs Backlash
By Kate Galbraith
New York Times
A Florida solar group’s support for offshore oil and gas drilling as a means of generating revenue for renewables has spurred a backlash.

Drilling backers, foes prepare for big fight
By Steve Bousquet
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times
From an office near the state Capitol, David Rancourt oversees a growth industry: the lobbying and public-relations operation seeking to lift the long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas exploration off Florida.

Australian oil spill fuels Alex Sink's drilling skepticism
By Adam Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Could a ruptured rig off western Australia(left) be the death nell to state officials trying to open up Florida to offshore drilling as close as three miles to the coast?

Strike two: oil leak plugging attempt fails
ABC News
Related: Failure to plug oil leak 'unacceptable'
The West Atlas oil rig in the Timor Sea has been leaking oil into the ocean for more than seven weeks.

Oil drilling threatens tourism
By Will Graves
Orlando Sentinel
The one-dimensional thinking championed by state Rep. Dean Cannon is exactly what National Geographic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Orlando Sentinel and other publications have decried as a death knell for Florida.

Florida Republicans: drill, baby, drill (includes video)
By Steve Nichols
Fox 13 News Tampa Bay
Will there be consequences for local lawmakers who oppose offshore drilling legislation?

Bennett wants to delay offshore drilling debate
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
State Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, is looking to put the brakes on the state oil drilling debate.

Florida State University to hold offshore-drilling symposium
By Jim Ash
Tallahassee Democrat
Pledging to be honest brokers in a politically charged debate, Florida State University scientists announced Monday they will conduct an offshore drilling symposium next month.

Save Florida
By Bill Pownall
Hernando Today
I am writing this letter to each and every citizen of the state of Florida for you to contact and press your state legislators from passing a bill this upcoming session or as early as an October special session.

Florida oil drilling supporters, opponents post letters on issue
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Florida oil drilling opponents today called on Gov. Charlie Crist to include more coastal protections to his criteria for allowing offshore drilling.

Green activist advocates taking polite approach to opposition
By Steve Patterson
Florida Times-Union
ProvidedWith Florida politicians and environmentalists squaring off to fight over offshore oil drilling, a visiting activist is sharing some advice: Don't make enemies until you have to.

Rigging offshore drilling
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
An elected official whose spouse gets paid by a group bent on influencing legislation before his committee has no business heading that committee.


Editorial cartoon by Jeff Parker, Florida Today.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Click the picture above to urge Senate President Jeff Atwater to oppose state legislative efforts that would allow offshore oil drilling off Florida’s coast.

MORE ONLINE ACTIONS
Write a letter to the editor, via Audubon of Florida.
Write your state legislators, via Audubon of Florida.
Tell Sen. Atwater Not To Allow Oil Drilling In Special Session, via Audubon of Florida.
Sign the petition against oil drilling, via Protect Florida’s Beaches.
Tell Salazar: No drilling off Florida's Coast, via Environment Florida.
Tell new Senator LeMieux to Repower America, via Environment Florida.
Tell Your Senator No More Offshore Drilling, via Oceana.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OF NOTE
Protect Florida’s Beaches, recently launched coalition website.
Protect Florida’s Beaches on Facebook.
Don’t Drill Florida website.
Don’t Drill Florida Facebook page.
Environment Florida offshore drilling page.
Skytruth blog, an excellent source of info.
Not the Answer blog, courtesy Surfrider Foundation.
EnergyFLA.com, online hub of drilling proponents; their Twitter page is here.

MORE GREEN NEWS

For the loggerhead sea turtle, a worrisome trend
By Kate Spinner
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
For loggerhead sea turtles, 2009 marked a dismal nesting year, extending a decade-long decline that has prompted lawsuits, fishing bans and a push to list the animal as endangered.

Long-stalled project to help Florida Bay, Everglades finally getting started
By Andy Reid
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
A vital Everglades restoration project, intended to fix decades of environmentally destructive draining, got a long-awaited go-ahead from South Florida water managers on Thursday.

Delayed canal overhaul OK'd
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Back in the 1970s, when Mike Collins was a young flats guide in the Keys, old-timers like legendary fly-fishing pioneer Jimmie Albright already knew what was ailing Florida Bay.

FPL agrees to assessment of mysterious saltwater plume near Turkey Point nuclear plant
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Florida Power & Light will spend millions to assess whether the massive cooling canal system at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant is fueling salt contamination of the aquifer in South Miami-Dade County.

Fla. PSC considers nuclear plant rate hikes
The Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The Public Service Commission is considering rate increases to pay for building nuclear power plants that critics say aren't needed.

PSC staff recommends utilities be allowed to drop conservation incentives
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Despite pressure from both Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Legislature, state regulators on Thursday recommended that electric utilities not be required to give customers new incentives for saving energy and reducing electrical consumption.

Volusia approves massive 'city in the woods' project
By Ludmilla Lelis
Orlando Sentinel
A potential city in the woods, with more than 20,000 homes proposed on remote timberland west of Interstate 95, passed a key hurdle Thursday.

State lawmakers battling DCA secretary over growth
By Michael Peltier
Naples News
Civics books often tell you how it’s supposed to work.

Bronson says water lawsuit threatens jobs, prescribed burning
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson today warned other Cabinet members that setting specific pollution standards for nutrients in Florida waters could jeopardize prescribed burning efforts and the state's forest industry.

Group: FEMA Must Consult FWS To Protect Turtles (includes audio)
By Gina Presson
Public News Service Florida
The Florida Wildlife Federation (FWF) has inched closer to filing a lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Solar plant set to open, even as shadows loom
By Zac Anderson
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The road to North America's largest photovoltaic solar plant passes cows and orange trees before turning to gravel amid a field of 90,000 black panels.

Stop drift in oceans policy
By Frank Muller-Karger
St. Petersburg Times
In Florida, our beaches and coastal waters attract over 33 million tourists each year. Our marine fishing, boating, tourism, recreation and ocean transport industries bring over $400 billion every year to our state.

Seagrass Recovery Joins the United Nations in Calling Attention to the Need to Restore Critical Seagrass Habitats in the Coastal Zone of the World's Oceans
Press Release
Seagrass Recovery
A report released October 14, 2009 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) stresses the importance of urgent action to maintain and restore marine ecosystems such as seagrass, mangroves and salt marshes (blue carbon sinks) as the key to combating climate change.

Environmental threats observe no borders
By Douglas Rader and Kumar Mahadevan
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Cuban and American scientists recently gathered at Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, D.C., and Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota for a groundbreaking exchange of science and ideas -- the first of its kind in years to highlight the importance of working together on ocean conservation and shared waters.

Giant invasive snakes are here to stay
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
There are a few upbeat findings in a new federal study of the assorted threats posed to the nation by Burmese pythons and eight other large exotic constrictors.

Joint investigation finds no criminal wrongdoing at Public Service Commission
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Leon County State Attorney Willie Meggs said Monday that a joint investigation between his office and state police into the state's public utilities regulator has not turned up any criminal wrongdoing.

PSC troubles prompt widespread calls for reform
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Related Carl Hiaasen column: Man bites dog: PSC rejects FPL rate hike
Faced with an edict from Gov. Charlie Crist to ``clean house'' at the troubled Public Service Commission, Senate President Jeff Atwater says he'll hold hearings during the next two months to change the way the utility regulator does business.

Ballot issue on growth a hot topic
By Grace Gagliano
Bradenton Herald
A November 2010 ballot issue is already stirring heated local discussions.

Suit over law that favors builders
By Dale White
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The new state law that critics blasted as a massive assault on Florida's growth regulations has been blocked by the agency that is supposed to enforce it, and attacked in court by a growing number of cities and counties that want it struck down.

Bio-energy, ethanol projects proposed across Florida
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Nine bio-energy or ethanol projects are being proposed in Florida and at least five others are under discussion, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Enviros support new lands ranking process
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
In a move that environmentalists said resolves their concerns, a state panel on Friday adopted a rule that would establish a new rankings process for determining which conservation lands should be bought.

Environmental agency rejects Florida Crystals land as inland port site
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
Politically powerful Florida Crystals Corp. was dealt a blow Friday by state environmental regulators, who said a transportation, warehousing and distribution complex the sugar company wants built on its land south of Lake Okeechobee would interfere with Everglades restoration.

Manatee habitat poorly defined
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
In the next few months, manatees will start heading for their traditional wintering grounds in Florida -- mostly springs (such as Blue Spring State Park in Orange City) and power-plant outfalls.

Needed review
Editorial
Florida Today
Florida residents — and those along the Space Coast in particular — have long had a special responsibility to help the manatee survive.


Threatened loggerhead sea 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"

Major update on effort to save Fred George Basin

Major update on effort to save Fred George Basin

The Leon County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday night to purchase two critically important land parcels as part of the Fred George Basin conservation project. This marks the third and fourth out of five tracts that will comprise the 175-acre Fred George Basin Greenway.

Wildwood Preservation Society was formed in April 2006 to challenge a rezoning notice that, if approved, would have allowed reckless high-density development in the Fred George Basin floodplain, an area active with endangered wildlife and that had already suffered from nearby sprawl. Thanks to the hard work and support of many, many individuals and a coalition of concerned organizations, the heart of Fred George Basin has largely been saved. The Fred George Basin Greenway is slated to eventually open as a public park with low-impact recreation such as hiking trails.


Endangered wood storks in Fred George Basin, May 2009. Photo courtesy Rich Leighton, Florida Nature Photography.

Detailed background (adapted from Leon County Commission Agenda Item 38 from the Oct. 13, 2009 meeting): The Fred George Basin, located in northwestern Leon County, is made up of several parcels that contain developable uplands as well as flood prone areas, wetlands, and the Fred George Sink. The three parcels that form the core of the Fred George Basin were owned by R.P. Properties, LLC. (R.P.), the Maples family, and Christina Maples. The owners applied for a rezoning of their property from RA to R-3 in April 2006. Prior to the Planning Commission hearing on the requested rezoning, petitions were filed with the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) by Wildwood Preservation Society founder Misty Penton, a nearby resident, claiming that the substantial increase in residential density would change the nature of the rural community, increase runoff in the Fred George Basin, cause flooding within some neighborhoods, and have a negative impact on threatened and endangered species in the area. Standing to challenge was found in two of the three rezoning requests (R.P. and James Maples). Due to an interest by the County to obtain the parcels, the rezoning requests were voluntarily postponed by the owners, and the DOAH hearing placed in abeyance, pending a decision on final disposition of the property.

At the October 10, 2006 Board meeting, the acquisition of the parcels was discussed under Commissioners’ time and staff was directed to develop an agenda request concerning this issue. The agenda item went before the Board at the December 12, 2006 regular meeting. After discussion, the Board voted to acquire the tract owned by R.P. Properties LLC, the most environmentally sensitive parcel, upon dismissal of the rezoning request, with the option to acquire the James Maples and Christina Maples property at a future time. In addition, the Board directed staff to seek Blueprint 2000 (BP 2000) funding for the acquisition of all three properties.

At the February 13, 2007 regular meeting, an agenda item concerning the proposed Fred George Basin Greenway went before the Board. After discussion, staff was directed to seek funding for the acquisition of the three original parcels and two additional parcels, the four-acre Schwartz property, located to the north of the original three parcels, and the 13-acre Cavanagh property, located to the east of the original three parcels. Staff was directed to seek the additional funding required for the acquisition by submitting a Florida Communities Trust (FCT) Grant application to the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA).

In January 2007, the County submitted a request to BP 2000 to reclassify the Fred George Basin project from a Tier 2 to a Tier 1 to obtain BP 2000 funding. In addition, the County requested that BP2000 utilize the funding originally allocated for Lake Jackson projects to the Fred George Basin project since many of the Lake Jackson projects had been completed by the County using other sources of funding. BP 2000 staff submitted this proposal to their Technical Review Committee (TRC) on February 8, 2007.

The TRC considered the issue and formally recommended the transfer of $2.691 million from the Lake Jackson project to the Fred George Basin project. This recommendation was presented to the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC). The CAC concurred with the TRC, and formally recommended the transfer $2.691 million to the Fred George Basin project and to begin the reclassification process necessary to move the project from Tier 2 to Tier 1. This recommendation went to the BP 2000 Intergovernmental Agency (IA) meeting on February 26, 2007. The IA directed BP 2000 staff to schedule the public hearing necessary to move the Fred George Basin project to Tier 1 and, upon the reclassification, transfer no more than $2.77 million to the project. At a public hearing on June 4, 2007, the IA approved the reclassification of the project to Tier 1 and the allocation of no more than $2.77 million to the project.

Concurrent with the process of seeking funds through BP 2000, the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department (Planning) and the Grants Program Coordinator, working with Wildwood Preservation Society, developed and submitted a FCT application for the Fred George Basin Greenway project. The application called for reimbursement to the County after the parcels were acquired through a voluntary negotiated transaction. The application was successful, ranking the Fred George Basin Greenway project 5th out of 110 applicants, and the County executed an agreement with FCT on January 15, 2008.

In order to expedite the acquisition of the properties, County staff ordered appraisals for all five parcels. Since FCT would utilize the appraised value in determining the amount of reimbursement to the County, the FCT process of appraisal was utilized. Two state-certified appraisers were retained, and appraisals were done for each parcel. A third state-certified appraiser reviewed the appraisals to insure accuracy, and developed a Maximum Approved Purchase Price (MAPP).

At its regular meeting of December 9, 2008, the Board approved the purchase of the RP property for $900,000, and allocated an additional $200,000 for environmental cleanup of the site. At its July 14, 2009 regular meeting, the Board approved the purchase of the Dan Schwartz property for $100,000. Both parcels have since been purchased.

With the purchase of the two newest properties, four of the five parcels originally planned for acquisition are now County owned. More than 160 acres have been saved to date. Currently Leon County staff is negotiating with the owners of the fifth parcel, a 13-acre piece that is predominantly flood plain and bottomland forest.


Egret chicks in Fred George Basin, May 2009. Photo courtesy Rich Leighton, Florida Nature Photography

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 10-9-09

Ed. Note: today’s post covers the past two weeks – we’ll return to our weekly posting schedule next Friday.

FEATURED STORIES

Federal agency could update manatee habitat map
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
It has been more than 30 years since federal wildlife managers formally mapped the places where endangered manatees live in Florida.

Report: Climate change poses risk to Florida’s National Parks
By Paul Brinkmann
South Florida Business Journal
Florida’s three national parks – which help drive tourism dollars to the state – are among the 25 parks most at risk from climate change, according to a report from Natural Resources Defense Council.

Body of evidence shows that atrazine harms fish and amphibians, USF researchers say
By Richard Danielson
St. Petersburg Times
With the EPA taking a hard look at the popular weed killer atrazine, two University of South Florida biologists say there's evidence it harms fish and frogs.

Everglades restoration dispute heads to Florida's high court
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Charlie Crist's mammoth land deal with the U.S. Sugar Corp., a $536 million bid to restore the Everglades, is headed to the state Supreme Court.

Lake Jackson is a on a rebound with help from Mother Nature
By Gerald Ensley
Tallahassee Democrat
Joe Jacobsen has been fishing Lake Jackson since 1956. On a recent Friday morning, the retired Tallahassee electrician went out with hopes of catching some bream but wound up catching a bunch of speckled perch instead.

Blocking build-build-builders
By Mike Thomas
Orlando Sentinel
The Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida are complete frauds.


Lake Jackson shoreline.

THE BIG OIL ROUNDUP

The Big Oil roundup: news and information about Big Oil’s push to rig Florida’s coastline for the two week period ending 10-9-09


Editorial cartoon by Andy Marlette, Pensacola News Journal.

Fla. drilling advocate: Money won't come quickly
By Bill Kaczor
The Associated Press
An offshore drilling advocate acknowledged it'll take years before the state can realize the promises of a revenue windfall from oil and natural gas exploration during a Capitol debate Tuesday.

Florida Solar Group Backs Offshore Drilling
By Kate Galbraith
New York Times
When solar power advocates peddle their product, they emphasize that the panels generate clean energy – in implicit contrast to greenhouse gas-producing fossil fuels.

Florida solar group criticized for oil drilling support
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
A solar energy group's support for offshore oil drilling is facing sharp criticism from environmentalists.

Support of oil drilling takes the shine off solar
By Eric Ernst
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
When it endorsed drilling for oil within sight of Gulf coast beaches last week, the state's solar power industry showed its true color: Green.

Solar, oil industries: strange bedfellows?
By Peter Linton-Smith
Fox 13 News Tampa Bay
Florida's solar energy industry trade group is reconsidering a position taken last week on offshore oil drilling.

In midst of offshore drilling debate, Miami lawmaker denies conflict with his lobbyist wife
By Steve Bousquet and Shannon Colavecchio
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The powerful Miami lawmaker now in charge of the Senate committee on energy policy is married to a lobbyist hired to help secure the repeal of Florida's ban on offshore oil and gas exploration.

Two senators want panel to explore oil drilling
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Two Democratic senators today said they are proposing legislation to require creation of a new panel to look at the risks and benefits of drilling off of Florida's coastline.

Drilling proposal protects Pinellas
By Catherine Dolinski
Tampa Tribune
Supporters of oil drilling off Florida's Gulf coast say their plan would leave waters around Pinellas and a few other counties free of derricks.

Don't Drill In Gulf of Mexico, Beach Cities Agree
By Sheila Mullane Estrada
St. Petersburg Times
Pinellas County's beach communities voiced strong opposition last week to any oil drilling within state-controlled waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Offshore Drilling Bill Passes House; Panhandle Chambers Oppose (includes video)
Staff Report
WJHG News Panama City
Chamber of commerce officials across the Panhandle are organizing opposition to any plans for expanding offshore oil and gas drilling in the Gulf.

Cities and county unite to oppose offshore drilling
By Doug Sword
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Sarasota County and its four cities unanimously approved a resolution to maintain the bank against oil drilling off of Florida's coast.

Don't drill in Gulf of Mexico, beach cities agree
By Sheila Mullane Estrada
St. Petersburg Times
Pinellas County's beach communities voiced strong opposition last week to any oil drilling within state-controlled waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Florida's dej vu on oil drilling
By Bob Rackleff
Tampa Tribune
Before Florida goes back into offshore oil drilling, let's consider the mess our state leaders created the last time they aspired to be another Texas or Louisiana.

Some agreement, disagreement in House Dems oil debate
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
A discussion among Florida House Democrats on oil drilling today featured some sharp exchanges between a leading environmental opponent an attorney representing drilling supporters.

Politicians slimy enough without Big Oil's slick talk
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
I'm looking forward to a healthy debate over offshore drilling.

Offshore drilling is not worth the risks to the Florida gulf coast
By Dan DeWitt
St. Petersburg Times
The Gulf of Mexico at Bayport is clear enough that James Frost could look down from the pier Tuesday and see crab traps a dozen feet underwater.

Beware the Sirens of Big Oil
By Dr. Riki Ott
Huffington Post
Cordova, Alaska. In the early 1970s, Big Oil wooed Alaskans with a seductive chorus promising jobs, riches, and risk-free oil development, pipeline transfer, and tanker transport.

Florida Lawmakers Dive Deep Into Big Debate On Drilling
By Brandon Larrabee
Jacksonville Times-Union
A battle over the future of Florida’s coastline and the resources that lie just beyond is shaping up in the Legislature, as lawmakers, lobbyists and advocates on both sides mobilize for what could be one of the major fights of the coming session: whether to open state waters to offshore oil drilling.

Drilling Tug-Of-War Continues
By Timothy O'Hara
Key West Citizen
An oil spill off the coast of Australia that is currently dumping 16,800 gallons of crude in the ocean each day is heightening concerns about allowing drilling off the coast of Florida.

Group Aims For Neutral Forum On Drilling
By Jim Ash
Tallahassee Democrat
Supporters and opponents of offshore drilling are cautiously optimistic that the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, a policy group created by the Legislature in 2005, can provide a neutral forum to answer some of the thorniest questions.

Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida assessing offshore drilling
By Jim Ash
Tallahassee Democrat
Supporters and opponents of offshore drilling are cautiously optimistic that the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, a policy group created by the Legislature in 2005, can provide a neutral forum to answer some of the thorniest questions.

Oil, gas drilling off Florida coast? Lawmaker's plan spurs debate
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
Related: Drilling in Gulf? Pros and cons of Cannon's plan
State Rep. Dean Cannon is an avid pilot, motivated partly by his father's past military flying, so he often wings it to the capital in a rented plane.

'Drill bill' puts our tourism economy in jeopardy
By David Pleat
Destin Log
In July of this year over 58,000 gallons of raw crude oil spilled into the pristine waters of the Gulf of Mexico 30 miles off of the coast of Louisiana.

Anti-Drilling Coalition Fractures
By Zac Anderson
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Oil and solar power may seem like strange bedfellows, but this week the Florida Solar Energy Industry Association -- a group that represents more than 100 solar companies statewide -- announced support for oil drilling within 10 miles of Florida's coast so long as oil tax money is used to subsidize solar installations.

Drilling camp making inroads
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
While much of the nation has been focused on the health care debate in Washington, a three-pronged effort to open Florida's Gulf Coast to oil drilling has quietly been gaining strength and appears set to become a major battle later this fall.

Floridians should unite against drilling
By Tommy Maple
Independent Alligator
Florida politics has always been a giant petri dish of sleaze, and the Florida Legislature is always a spectacular orgy of corruption.

Stacking the deck for drilling
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Republican Senate President Jeff Atwater, who wants to be Florida's next chief financial officer, ignored a blatant conflict of interest and named a new energy committee chairman whose wife is a lobbyist for the secretive group pushing offshore drilling.

Too slick for Florida
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Winter Park's Dean Cannon keeps hawking his proposal to lift the state's ban on offshore drilling.

Tallahassee mulls drilling off Florida's Gulf Coast
Editorial
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The push is still on to turn Florida into a gas- and oil-producing state and, unlike similar efforts in Congress, this push is appealing to a far more receptive audience.

Offshore drilling a live issue
Editorial
Ft. Myers News-Press
Ed. Note: this editorial board flatly states that the offshore industry has a “solid safety record” – a reckless assertion in light of the number and severity of known spills.
Used to be, offshore oil drilling was a simple issue in Florida politics: Don't even think about it.


Montara-sized area of oil slick and sheen overlain in the northern Gulf of Mexico, showing potential impact of a comparable spill from a source located in the Destin Dome area 50 miles offshore from Pensacola. Based on analysis of August 30, 2009 NASA / MODIS satellite image of Timor Sea blowout and spill. It would in fact be much worse than even this illustration because thousands of gallons have continued to spill every single day since.

First attempt to plug oil leak fails
ABC News
The company responsible for an oil leak off the north-west coast of Australia says the first attempt to plug the leak with mud and stop the flow of oil has been unsuccessful.

Oil Platform Spill a Disaster in the Making
Audubon of Florida blog
On the 21st August the West Atlas drill rig began spewing 400 barrels of oil a day into the Timor Sea.

Foes of drilling say new technology won't stop oil spills
By Tamara Hill and Mike Deeson
Tampa Bays 10 News
The Coast Guard has documented more than 239,000 oil spills across the globe between 1973 and 2001.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Click the picture above to urge Senate President Jeff Atwater to oppose state legislative efforts that would allow offshore oil drilling off Florida’s coast.

MORE ONLINE ACTIONS
Tell Salazar: No drilling off Florida's Coast, via Environment Florida.
Tell new Senator LeMieux to Repower America, via Environment Florida.
Tell Your Senator No More Offshore Drilling, via Oceana.
Tell Sen. Atwater Not To Allow Oil Drilling In Special Session, via Audubon of Florida.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OF NOTE
Protect Florida’s Beaches, recently launched coalition website.
Protect Florida’s Beaches on Facebook.
Environment Florida offshore drilling page.
Skytruth blog, an excellent source of info.
Not the Answer blog, courtesy Surfrider Foundation.
EnergyFLA.com, online hub of drilling proponents; their Twitter page is here.

MORE GREEN NEWS

Rare butterfly is a clue to global warming
By Dan Moffett
Palm Beach Post
The United Nations pulled together 100 world leaders last week for the highest-level meeting yet on global climate change.

Migrating Birds Seek Cooler Temps as Climate Changes
By Patricia Behnke
Wakulla.com
Autumn in Florida brings relief from the suffocating heat and dripping humidity of summer.

Long-Term Climate Changes Raise Concerns
By Tom Palmer
Lakeland Ledger
The prospect of the effects of climate change on the Lake Wales Ridge has environmental land managers worried.

Students find that wetlands matter
By Faith Eidse
Tallahassee Democrat
Globally, wetlands harbor 5,000 plant and 190 amphibian species, a third of all bird life, most of our fish nurseries and half our threatened or endangered species.

The battle escalates as pythons flourish
By Paul Flemming
Tallahassee Democrat
Hostilities have already been declared, but Florida is considering a surge in its war against Reptiles of Concern.

U.S. Sugar, shareholders agree on $15.9M deal in suit
By Brian Skoloff
The Associated Press
U.S. Sugar Corp. and employee shareholders of the largest U.S. cane sugar producer have agreed on a settlement to a lawsuit that claimed U.S. Sugar's board failed to inform shareholders of two lucrative buyout offers, then rejected the deals.

Coal waste from Florida headed to Panama (includes audio)
By Sean Kinane
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Last December a major environmental disaster occurred when an ash dike ruptured near a Tennessee power plant, endangering schools and residences.

Legislature Provides Cash For Possible Sweetheart Deal
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
It looks like a sweetheart deal, though it's not clear yet who in the Legislature helped set it up.

Ag Commissioner Wants To Intervene In EPA Suit
Associated Press
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson wants to challenge a legal settlement involving the Environmental Protection Agency that could impose costly nutrient standards for state water bodies.

FPL's Request To Raise Rates For Natural Gas Pipeline Shot Down
By Julie Patel
Orlando Sentinel
The Florida Public Service Commission denied Florida Power & Light's proposal to build a $1.53 billion natural gas pipeline on Tuesday, saying the utility didn't prove the project was the best and cheapest option.

Too much politics in regulation, utility analysts say
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
A day after Florida Power & Light losts its bid to build a ratepayer-financed natural gas pipeline, utility analysts Wednesday said Florida has a ``highly politicized atmosphere'' for utility regulation and warned that if it continues, credit ratings for utility companies could drop.

Ship likely struck whale found dead in Port of Tampa, NOAA says
By Baird Helgeson
Tampa Tribune
A ship in the Gulf of Mexico likely struck and killed the rare 41-foot whale found floating in the Port of Tampa last weekend, according the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Hunters Push to Legalize Fishing Once-Endangered Goliath Grouper
By Natalie O'Neill
Miami New Times
​Shhhhhhhh. Listen to that. It's the sound of hundreds of feisty, cow-size fish making sweet, sweet love.

State to enforce new seagrass rule
Staff Report
Tampa Tribune
State law officers will soon begin enforcing new rules targeting those that intentionally damage seagrass.

Reef Rescue: We found rare Staghorn coral where Palm Beach officials told feds it wouldn't be
By Sonja Isger and Andrew Marra
Palm Beach Post
Excitement is brewing this morning about a patch of life no one knew was flourishing in waters a mile east of the island of Palm Beach.

Florida panther No. 113 now a mother
By Andrea Stetson
Ft. Myers News-Press
No one knew panther No. 113 was a mom until a camera, paid for by Southwest Florida schoolchildren, captured an image of the tawny mother and her cub.

Senator Proposes Snake Ban
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
A Florida State Senator is proposing a total ban on the importation and possession of non native Reptiles of Concern, which includes most species of pythons.

Collier Commissioners not sold on protection for endangered red-cockaded woodpecker
By Eric Staats
Naples News
A draft plan to protect an endangered woodpecker in rural Collier County needs to be reworked, county commissioners said this week.

EPA cites West Palm Beach over sewage
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
The city's sewage treatment plant has pumped untold millions of gallons of poorly treated wastewater onto wetlands adjacent to wells used to supplement the city's drinking water supply.

Gulf Power To Cut Ribbon On Wind Energy Test Tower
Staff Report
Pensacola News-Journal
Gulf Power Co.'s experiment in wind energy generation will begin today with a 10:30 a.m. ribbon-cutting of its newly erected data-gathering tower on Navarre Beach.

Recovery Without Feeling
By Alan Farago
Counterpunch
The economic calamity is abating according to Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chief.

'Sea change' due in state's growth policies
By Peter Johnson
Tampa Tribune
Citizens across Florida are concerned with the implications of the statistics that register the state's economic downturn.

Hometown democracy: Empower the people on growth
By Bett Willett
Florida Times-Union
Amendment 4 will give voters veto power over changes to their local master plan.

Don't let feds backslide on Everglades
Editorial
Ft. Myers News-Press
Here we go again. Congress is considering a $34 million cut to Everglades restoration funding, continuing a decade-long betrayal of its commitment to this epic project.

A bridge to the Everglades
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
For now, it's just a piece of paper. With any luck, however, it will become the document that helps to save the Everglades.

Not listening
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Ever since water management officials first floated the idea of pumping the Ocklawaha and St. Johns rivers, they have framed the discussion not in terms of whether to take the water, but when.


Female red-cockaded woodpecker.

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 9-25-09

FEATURED STORIES

Getting Serious About Global Warming
The Progress Report
Think Progress
Even as pressure builds for the U.S. Senate to take action on global warming, polluters have intensified their campaigns to block clean energy reform.

Group formed to help resolve tri-state water dispute
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
A diverse coalition of groups within Alabama, Florida and Georgia is trying to encourage a discussion of water issues that have divided residents of the three states in the past.

Are you drinking dirty water? Florida among 10 worst states for tap water
By Daniel Vasquez
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
A recent New York Times series called "Toxic Waters" has rightly drawn attention to the issue of drinking safe - or unsafe, as the case may be - tap water.

Do gopher tortoises need federal protection from the building industry? Feds to ponder the issue
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
Federal officials are considering whether to add protections for the gopher tortoise that environmentalists say are long overdue but that builders industry experts warn could be catastrophic for Florida's economy.

Activists want bigger 'critical’ area off Florida-Georgia coast for right whales
By Steve Patterson
Florida Times-Union
Related: Training range OK for whales, Navy says
Wildlife activists are asking the federal government to enlarge an area off the Florida-Georgia coast where special efforts are made to protect endangered right whales.


Critically endangered right whales.

THE BIG OIL ROUNDUP

The Big Oil roundup: news and information about Big Oil’s push to rig Florida’s coastline for the week ending 9-25-09

Group pushes for Gulf drilling legislation
By Carl Mario Nudio
Bradenton Herald
Looking to influence the future of oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, an advocacy group has been traveling Florida promoting its ideas.

Offshore drilling supporter tells tourism agency: It's safe
By Valerie Whitney
Daytona Beach News Journal
State Rep. Dean Cannon, a big supporter of offshore drilling, brought his platform Thursday to the people charged with attracting visitors to Florida.


Digitally mapped simulation of what the oil spill happening right now off Australia’s coast would look like if it happened from a drilling platform 80 miles from Florida’s coastline in the Gulf of Mexico. This map was created two weeks ago – it would in fact be much worse now because it's still leaking 400 barrels a day and the rig isn't expected to be plugged UNTIL AT LEAST MID-OCTOBER! Moreover, this ongoing catastrophe emanated from a new oil platform that the fossil fuel lobby has touted as safe. Per the article above, did Rep. Cannon tell tourism officials any of this? He's just another Big Oil shill, baby, shill.

Sarasota County opposes drilling
Staff Report
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Related editorial: Taking a stand against drilling
Pristine beaches should trump oil exploration, Sarasota County leaders said Tuesday in opposing any oil exploration in Florida waters.

Expanded Oil Drilling Within 3 to 10 Miles Of Florida's West Coast? (audio story)
By Robert Lorei
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
There's a renewed effort to try to lift the ban on oil drilling close to Florida's coastline.

Mike Haridopolos: Oil drilling, low taxes on tap for Florida
By Mike Haridopolos
TC Palm
Economic growth. Increased sovereignty. Transparency in government. Citizen participation. Tax relief. Spending restraint.

Chamber survey seeks support for 'energy exploration'
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times
The Florida Chamber of Commerce is ratcheting up the oil-drilling debate with a new "survey" of its members that asks whether they would support or oppose cap and trade, renewable energy standards for electric companies and "energy exploration in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida as long as any permanent structures necessary for oil and natural gas production are not visible from shore?"

Alex Sink is following legislation 'very closely'
By Tom McLaughlin
Northwest Florida Daily News
Alex Sink, Florida’s chief financial officer and the leading Democratic candidate for governor, said she’s following “very closely” state legislation that would allow oil drilling near the coast.


Click the picture above to urge Senate President Jeff Atwater to oppose state legislative efforts that would allow offshore oil drilling off Florida’s coast.

MORE ONLINE ACTIONS
Tell Salazar: No drilling off Florida's Coast, via Environment Florida.
Tell new Senator LeMieux to Repower America, via Environment Florida.
Tell Your Senator No More Offshore Drilling, via Oceana.
Tell Sen. Atwater Not To Allow Oil Drilling In Special Session, via Audubon of Florida.

MORE GREEN NEWS

World Leaders Bring Hope to the Sunshine State? (includes audio)
By Gina Presson
Public News Service Florida
As leaders of the world's largest economies begin the Group of Twenty (G-20) summit today in Pittsburgh, many in Florida are watching for discussion of climate change.

Feds Again Petitioned for Florida Panther Critical Habitat
Staff Report
Environmental News Service
As a species, the endangered Florida panther needs about 4,860 square miles in southern Florida to be protected as critical habitat to save the animal from extinction and recover the species, according to a new scientific petition submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by three nonprofit organizations.

Florida rural lands rule withstands farm groups' challenge
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Florida farm groups supported the Rural Land Stewardship Act in 2001 because they said it would preserve agriculture while helping the economies of rural communities.

Enviro group joins in criticism of PSC
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
One of the most active environmental groups before the Florida Public Service Commission says recent controversies show the panel is overly influenced by utilities and lobbyists, including former PSC staff and commissioners.

Polluted Lake Okeechobee getting dirtier
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Water managers, environmental agencies and conservation groups have been talking about cleaning up Lake Okeechobee for decades.

Atlanta Floods May Bring Temporary Peace to Water Wars
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
The is a silver lining in the more than 20 inches of rain that has beset the Atlanta area.

Salty St. Johns River could change wetlands in Duval, Clay, St. Johns
By Steve Patterson
Florida Times-Union
Wetlands in Jacksonville and northern St. Johns and Clay counties could be changed by rising salt levels if utilities withdraw water from the St. Johns River far upstream, a state researcher told scientists Wednesday at a symposium on possible withdrawals.

High Mercury Levels Found In North Fla. River Fish
The Associated Press
WKRG News 5 Pensacola-Mobile
Researchers are warning north Florida residents to be careful about consuming mercury-contaminated fish from some area rivers.

Project to map Everglades water levels aims to protect wildlife
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
Fat alligators are happy alligators and a sign that water levels in the Everglades are just right.

New, nastier python enters Everglades fray
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
As if one giant python wasn't enough, a cluster of captures in a single square mile of West Miami-Dade has scientists worried about a new species spreading across South Florida.

Florida senator proposes python ban
By David Fleshler
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
You wouldn't be able to buy a Burmese python as a pet anymore in Florida, under a bill drafted by a state senator who said the state should shut off the source of "dangerous reptiles" that have colonized the Everglades.

Volusia County gives 1st approval to Farmton -- city in the wilderness
By Ludmilla Lelis
Orlando Sentinel
A plan that would conserve more than 40,000 acres of remote timberland while establishing a new city of more than 20,000 homes has passed its first round of approvals.

Some get it right, some get it wrong on local growth decisions
By Jane Healy
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet got it right last week when they flatly rejected a project in the middle of Ocala horse country.

Time to end canned hunts on Treasure Coast
Editorial
TC Palm
Owners of JR Outfitters deny that they’re running “canned hunts” out in Indiantown. But charging hunters for the privilege of shooting exotic animals inside an enclosed area pretty much fits the bill.

Manatees are symbolic
Editorial
Tallahassee Democrat
The story of a manatee's death, descriptively told by reporter Amanda Nalley in Saturday's Democrat, is a reminder of the resources in peril in Florida waters.

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 9-18-09

FEATURED STORIES

Vast protection area urged for Florida panthers
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
Environmentalists are pressing the federal government to declare 3 million acres of South Florida - an area twice the size of Delaware - critical habitat for the nearly extinct Florida panther.

Cabinet Halts Development Plan
By Joe Follick
Lakeland Ledger
In another sign that Florida's historic economic reliance on home building is continuing to ebb, Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet unanimously upheld a judge's decision to bar a housing development in Marion County.

Ocala development fight signals broader duel over Hometown Democracy
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
With the state's housing market cratered and its population in decline, Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet waded into the debate over Florida's development future Tuesday when they rejected an appeal from developers of a 400-acre project outside Ocala.

In the Age of Stupid, Coconut Creek Mayor Marilyn Gerber gets butterflies
By Gimleteye
Eye on Miami
A group of gritty citizens in Florida have organized a successful petition to put on the 2010 state-wide ballot an amendment to the state constitution called Florida Hometown Democracy. It is greatly feared by state business interests.


Overdevelopment is wiping out the critically endangered Florida panther.

THE BIG OIL ROUNDUP
The Big Oil roundup: news and information about Big Oil’s push to rig Florida’s coastline for the week ending 9-18-09

A few questions for those who would drill for oil off of Florida's shores
By Bob Rackleff
St. Petersburg Times
The mysterious promoters of offshore oil drilling in Florida waters promise "A Breathtaking Economic Opportunity," in their words.

Four years after buying back oil lease, state considers allowing drilling
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Excerpt: Mark Ferrulo, an environmental activist who has fought offshore drilling in Florida efforts since 1991, said the dispute points to the influence that money is having in the current drilling debate. He is director of Progress Florida, which opposes drilling.


Click the picture above to urge Senate President Jeff Atwater to oppose state legislative efforts that would allow offshore oil drilling off Florida’s coast.

MORE ONLINE ACTIONS
Tell Salazar: No drilling off Florida's Coast, via Environment Florida.
Tell new Senator LeMieux to Repower America, via Environment Florida.
Tell Your Senator No More Offshore Drilling, via Oceana.
Tell Sen. Atwater Not To Allow Oil Drilling In Special Session, via Audubon of Florida.

Oil Drilling opposed by environmentalists, tourism officials and business owners (includes audio)
By Sean Kinane
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
A gigantic oil spill that has been occurring for more than three weeks off the coast of Australia is being used as a warning to Floridians against opening up the state’s coastline to offshore drilling.

Oil drilling means jobs and money, proponents say
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
Related: Who's behind Florida Energy Associates?
They appeared in the spring, a secretive group trying to upend Florida's longtime ban on offshore drilling by promising millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs.

Oil-drilling debate gets stickier (includes video)
By Steve Nichols
Fox News Tampa Bay
Opponents of offshore drilling near Florida now have a strong argument from the Timor Sea. The same technology the oil industry touts as being virtually spill-proof is involved in a major incident between Australia and Indonesia.

Don't look now, but oil rigs in our future
By Douglas C. Lyons
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
It may not be the best public policy for a state that's made its reputation, and a considerable tourism industry, from its beaches. But it'll cement Florida's legacy as the laboratory for just about every right-wing political initiative under the sun.

Opponents of offshore drilling say lifting ban could have dire consequences
By Eileen Schulte
St. Petersburg Times
You'll never be able to eat fish from Tampa Bay or the Gulf of Mexico again if oil drilling is allowed within 10 miles of Florida's west coast.

West Atlas Oil Spill Advertises Danger of Drilling in Florida
News Blog
Audubon of Florida
Oil has been flowing from the West Atlas platform for three weeks.

Offshore oil drilling by the numbers
By Harlan Weikle
Tampa Bay Weekly
Three, six and 12 billion barrels are the various estimates of the oil reserves to be found off Florida’s Gulf coast; a mere drop in the bucket compared to the potential economic loss to Florida, say opponents of offshore drilling.

Offshore drilling poll doesn't quite add up
Editorial
Pensacola News Journal
Now here's a surprise: The state's chief business lobbying group conducts a poll on offshore drilling and finds that Floridians overwhelmingly support it, and therefore the Legislature — in a special session to be called on another issue — should act to expose Florida's coast.

Drilling threatens Florida's economic base
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
To hear them speak, some Florida lawmakers have drill bits for tongues.

Big Oil mixing money and politics in Tallahassee
Editorial
Miami Herald
The well-financed campaign to open Florida waters in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling should be greeted with great skepticism by state residents and their representatives in the Legislature.

Oil drilling in state waters bad business
Editorial
Lake Wales News
After falling short of slipping through a bill to allow oil and gas drilling near Florida's coast earlier this year, legislative leaders are greasing the skids to get a similar bill considered during a possible special session in October or November.


Environmentalists fear oil is heading towards an area where whales breed. What might a similar spill do off Florida’s coast?

MORE GREEN NEWS

Year-long project aims to preserve coral in Miami-Dade waters
By Susana Montes-Delgado
Miami Herald
Related AP story: Massive coral protection plan approved
In their wet suits and masks, scientific divers carry oxygen tanks, underwater cameras, measuring tape, and about 50 pounds of equipment into Biscayne Bay to restore Miami-Dade's coral reefs.

Feds, Florida anglers battle over red-snapper ban
By Ludmilla Lelis
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Related: Anglers to feds: Bone up on red-snapper facts
On the docks at Ponce Inlet, the chance to hook a red snapper lures tourists to the Sea Spirit, a deep-sea party boat.

Navy facing whale battle
By Curtis Morgan
Bradenton Herald
Florida isn’t known for whale watching, but every winter the coastline offers a haven for endangered North Atlantic right whales.

Huge N. Brevard land deal pushes on
By Rick Neale
Florida Today
If approved, the Farmton Plan will designate more than 8,000 acres of northern Brevard County's serene forests, swamps and marshes as conservation land -- with no taxpayer purchase required.

Lawsuit coming if panthers aren’t protected, environmental groups say
By Eric Staats
Naples News
A courtroom could be the next stop for a push to designate millions of acres in South Florida as critical habitat for the endangered Florida panther.

Florida manatee deaths up this year; St. Marks River manatee latest local death
By Amanda Nalley
Tallahassee Democrat
No one knows how long she floated there, ribs broken, bobbing on her side, air escaping her lung and filling her body cavity.

Nokuse Plantation: Children will 'fall in love with nature'
By Kimberly White
Northwest Florida Daily News
Nature enthusiasts shrugged off the wet weather Saturday and hit the trail adjacent to the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center.

Red cockaded woodpecker no longer found around Estero Bay
By Charlie Whitehead
Naples News
The red cockaded woodpecker is no longer endangered in the Estero Bay watershed.

Firm stand on 'need' for growth
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Florida's governor and Cabinet withstood heavy statewide pressure by influential development and business interests to strike a blow Tuesday for responsible growth management.

Florida Cabinet should deny subdivision
Editorial
Miami Herald
In a recent case of David going up against Goliath, two Marion County residents fought successfully to stop a large subdivision from being built on 400 acres in the middle of horse country outside Ocala.

The power of one
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
A lone citizen’s challenge to a 2007 land use change approved in neighboring Marion County will be taken up today by Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet. It is a growth-management case of statewide significance.


Today the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted to protect what may be Earth's largest deepwater coral ecosystem off the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

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 9-11-09

FEATURED STORIES

Huge oil spill off Australia cited by opponents of drilling off Florida
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
Related editorial: Don't let this come to Florida's shores
On Aug. 21, oil began bubbling out from an offshore rig about 90 miles from Australia's coast.

More anti-drilling editorials from Florida’s major daily newspapers:
Palm Beach Post: Advice for special session: Don't take up drilling...
Florida Today: Stop the stampede
Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Stop the oil rush
Gainesville Sun: The rush job


Montara (West Atlas) Blowout and Oil Spill, Western Australia, August 2009 (note: Florida Energy Associates has touted Australia's drilling technology in their efforts to open Florida's coast).

Senate President doubts special session for oil drilling
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Related: Associated Industries wants oil drilling on special session agenda
Senate President Jeff Atwater today said a special session of the Legislature in October is highly unlikely and he raised doubts about whether it should include consideration of lifting Florida's ban on offshore oil drilling.

Slow the rush to drill near Florida's beaches
By Eric Draper
Tallahassee Democrat
Gov. Charlie Crist recently set off speculation about adding oil drilling to the agenda for the upcoming special session of the Legislature. It was an unfortunate change of position, but not surprising for this governor who is campaigning for the U.S. Senate and appears to be leaving his own high-minded climate and energy agenda undone.

The mystery push for offshore oil
By David Guest
Tampa Tribune
News that "a secretive group of powerful legislators, business groups and Texas oil companies has been laying the groundwork" to open Florida's shores to oil and gas drilling should make all of us sit up and pay attention.

Not here and not now: the case against drilling
By Eric Ernst
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
A local environmental organization, ManaSota-88, has just released a position paper called "10 Reasons Not to Drill for Oil Offshore of Florida."

Former Florida Gov. Bob Graham tries to chill state GOP's ardor for oil
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Former Florida Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham has watched the politics of offshore drilling flip 180 degrees in recent years.


Digitally mapped simulation of what the oil spill happening right now off Australia’s coast would look like if it happened from a drilling platform 80 miles from Florida’s coastline in the Gulf of Mexico.

MORE GREEN NEWS

Endangered Florida panthers feel the squeeze
By Alex Halperin
Christian Science Monitor
Related AP story: Another Fla. panther found dead on interstate
As southwest Florida struggles through the recession, the highly endangered Florida panther, which has lost much of its habitat to strip malls and gated communities, might have been expected to benefit from tough times.

Florida wildlife leaders consider using federal standards for imperiled species
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
Related: Lightning-rod list of Florida's vanishing wildlife
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will outline the details today of a third major overhaul in less two decades of the agency's troubled efforts to list species on the brink of extinction.

Rare whales' safety pits U.S. Navy against environmentalists
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Florida isn't known for whale watching, but every winter the coastline offers a haven for endangered North Atlantic right whales.

Saving the shark that bit me
By Debbie Salamone
Bradenton Herald
Sharks rarely attack people. The odds of a shark bite are roughly one in every 11.5 million times a person visits a beach, according to the International Shark Attack File.

Miami Beach’s Sea Turtles Threatened by Its People
By Carmen Gentile
New York Times
Under the cloak of nightfall, dozens of freshly hatched sea turtles beat tiny flippers against the wet sands of Miami Beach, inching their way toward the ocean and a life aquatic.

Gopher tortoise could get protection under Endangered Species Act
By Eric Staats
Naples News
Gopher tortoises that crawl around dry scrubby habitat in Southwest Florida could be making a move under the Endangered Species Act.

Builders wary of more gopher tortoise protection
By Steve Patterson
Florida Times-Union
A federal agency is taking a fresh look at whether gopher tortoises need new protections that could have big impacts on development in Florida and Georgia.

State leaders clash over growth plans
By Charlie Whitehead
Naples News
With all the controversial changes in Florida growth management regulations in the past few years, the sharpest disagreement during a recent seminar in Fort Myers was over a change that hasn’t been made.

Trees or homes? Miami Corp. land use hinges on Volusia, Brevard OK
By Ludmilla Lelis
Orlando Sentinel
During the next 50 years, a new city of residential villages and business districts could be carved out of remote timberland in central Volusia and northern Brevard counties where Florida black bears and panthers still roam.

Catching On To Florida's Economic 'Ponzi Scheme'
By Diane Roberts
NPR
For the first time since World War II, Florida is losing population.

Mine expansion plan worries Everglades restorers
By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post
South Florida water managers are raising concerns about a proposal to expand a rock mine that borders future Everglades restoration land.

Costs grow for Everglades reservoir left unfinished by sugar deal
By Andy Reid
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Tack on another $12 million to the taxpayers' tab for the cost of a massive, unfinished reservoir rendered obsolete by a proposed half-billion-dollar Everglades-restoration land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp.

Florida's waterways must be a priority
By Joe Murphy, Gulf Restoration Network
St. Petersburg Times
Few things unite Floridians like water. We swim in it, fish in it, paddle over it, and rely on it for our very survival.

Filmmaker not content to watch Orange Lake wetlands die
By Jared Leone
St. Petersburg Times
Some make movies for the glitz and glamor of Hollywood. Terry Neal made his movie to save Orange Lake.

A contract with nature
By Tom Bayles
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
It has been nearly 60 years since the start of the great Florida building boom where those involved were more focused on the millions they were making rather than any damage they were doing to ecosystems.

Progress, FP&L argue for nuke cost recovery
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Witnesses for an environmental group and utilities wanting to build nuclear power plants sparred Tuesday before the Public Service Commission over the predicted costs of construction and how to pay for them.

Progress Energy, FPL nuclear costs face double challenge
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
Environmental activists and the state advocate for utility customers plan to challenge Florida's two biggest power companies this week when the companies urge state regulators to let them continue charging for the early costs of nuclear plants not yet under construction.

2 Fla. PSC staffers resign as nuke plant weighed
By Bill Kaczor
The Associated Press
Two top Public Service Commission staffers resigned Tuesday and two others went on administrative leave as alleged ethics lapses again overshadowed a hearing on proposed rate increases - this time to pay for new nuclear power plants.

A toxic, exotic mess in the Everglades
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
With the environmental focus on global warming and greenhouse gases, it's easy to forget that other pollutants continue to need regulatory attention.


Critically endangered Florida panther.

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 9-4-09

FEATURED STORIES

Is Florida better off with a shrinking population?
By Gimleteye
Eye on Miami
Related: Florida Hometown Democracy
A front page article in the Sunday New York Times addressed Florida's shrinking population.

Push for drilling off Florida's coast is well-oiled
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A secretive group of powerful legislators, business groups and Texas oil companies has been laying the groundwork since December to win legislative approval to open Florida waters to oil exploration and end the 20-year drilling moratorium.

Lawmakers wary about oil drilling talks in special session
The News Service of Florida
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Charlie Crist is fueling the hopes of groups that want to open Florida waters to offshore drilling while getting the state potentially billions of dollars from oil companies.

Crist the climate-change crusader is gone with the wind (power)
By Mike Thomas
Orlando Sentinel
Everything is a political calculation with Charlie Crist.

Group gives Florida D+ on water quality
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
The Gulf Restoration Network today said Florida gets a D+ grade for its efforts to protect water quality, which was about the average grade for Gulf coast states.

Florida DEP, PEER tussle over carbon cap-and-trade
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility says Gov. Charlie Crist has abandoned carbon emissions cap-and-trading in his quest for a U.S. Senate seat, but a state Department of Environmental Protection response suggests it's all untrue.

Report: Loggerhead Turtles at Risk of Extinction
The Associated Press
New York Times
It's a scene that scientists say is all too common: A commercial fishing boat pulls in a net full of shrimp or tuna and finds a loggerhead sea turtle mixed in with the catch.


Threatened loggerhead sea turtle.

MORE GREEN NEWS

Crist again distances himself from environmental movement (includes audio)
By Mitch E. Perry
WMNF Community Radio
Five states have asked U.S. Senate leaders to let them impose stricter limits on greenhouse gas emissions than would be permitted under the climate legislation working its way through Congress, saying both levels of regulation are necessary to fight global warming.

Now what? US Army Corps of Engineers must take sea-level rise into account
By Gimleteye
Eye on Miami
The US Army Corps of Engineers has played a central role in the unsustainable development of Florida.

Former U.S. Senators and Admiral: Climate Change Threatens National Security (includes audio)
By Gina Presson
Public News Service Florida
Three men who should know something about the matter are calling climate change a national security issue.

Groups urge House speaker to support lands program
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Environmentalists today met with House Speaker Larry Cretul to urge his support for Florida's conservation land-buying program, but the issue of using oil drilling revenue to buy land was not discussed.

Keep swimming with manatees; feds say it's OK
By Tom Palmer
Lakeland Ledger
The practice of swimming with manatees, which I really don't understand, will continue for now without additional restrictions, federal officials have decided, despite criticism of the idea.

Streams or ditches? DEP considers waterways reclassification
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Few people who drive along Franklin Boulevard east of the state Capitol notice a ditch between the lanes of traffic or realize it may have historical significance.

Forest of staghorn coral thrives
By Susan Cocking
Miami Herald
Dropping 12 feet below the ocean's surface less than a mile off Fort Lauderdale's beach-front towers, a diver might wonder if he or she somehow got magically transported to a remote coral reef in the Caribbean.

Wakulla industrial park owners want rule change to allow biomass
By Dave Hodges
Tallahassee Democrat
Two county commissions in the area will address the same topic Sept. 8 in communities where the outcome could be markedly different.

Florida's Public Service Commission probed amid FPL rate bid
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
The state's top law enforcement agency is investigating the Public Service Commission on grounds that commissioners and staff members may have had improper relationships with the utilities they regulate.

Miami-Dade boasts Florida's first eco-friendly school
By Elaine De Valle
Miami Herald
Mariana Botero looks like the typical ninth-grader with blue nail polish and a dozen or so bracelets on each arm.

Hurricanes Add to the Stresses on Wildlife and Coastlines
By Patricia Behnke
FWC via Wakulla.com
More than one-half of the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of a coast. In Florida, 72 percent of the 18 million residents live or work in coastal areas, with approximately 12 million people living in Florida’s coastal counties.

Bill to drill hits too close to home
Editorial
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Gov. Charlie Crist and state lawmakers think they've found a solution to Florida's ongoing revenue woes.

Why rush drilling bill?
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Winter Park's Dean Cannon drew richly deserved criticism in the spring for trying to rush a bill through the Legislature in its final hours that would rid the state of its offshore-drilling ban.

Oil spills still a threat
Editorial
Pensacola News Journal
One of the arguments made by those who favor offshore drilling for oil near Florida's coastline is that modern drilling equipment is so advanced, safe and effective that oil spills from rigs are virtually a thing of the past, so there's no real risk to Florida's beaches.


Montara (West Atlas) Blowout and Oil Spill, Western Australia, August 2009 (note: Florida Energy Associates has touted Australia's drilling technology in their efforts to open Florida's coast).

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