Unfortunately, this delegation will not hear from some of “Florida’s leading voices on the environment” that they should be hearing.
We could start with the Florida Springs Council and add the Florida Springs Institute.
Readers here will note that one of our pet peeves is that when Florida’s water problems are mentioned, people think only of Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. No one points out that North Florida’s Springs Heartland, unique in the world, is suffering a slow but sure death because our agencies are selling out our resources to industry and polluters, chief among them agriculture.
Most certainly the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Mote Marine Laboratory do not speak to the water problems of North Florida. Neither has displayed an interest in reducing the out-of-control pumping from the aquifer nor stopping the likewise out-of-control fertilizer application.
On the contrary, it is business as usual for our DEP as they continue to issue pumping permits even as they exhibit total failure to plan for an adequate or sustainable future water supply.
Read the complete article here at Florida Politics.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
Florida Congressional Delegation to convene on water quality challenges
October 29, 2021
The Florida Congressional Delegation will meet in Washington next week to discuss water issues challenging the state.
Reps. Vern Buchanan, a Longboat Key Republican, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, jointly announced the 29-member state Delegation will hear from many of Florida’s leading voices on the environment.
“Florida relies on clean water and white sandy beaches to support our economy and our way of life,” Buchanan said. “I look forward to hearing from our distinguished panelists about how we can best address the state’s water issues. It’s essential that Florida’s bipartisan congressional delegation work together to maintain Florida’s natural resources while also protecting our economy and our environment for generations to come.”
The delegation will convene in the Rayburn building on Wednesday, Nov. 3, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.
Wesley Brooks, the federal affairs director for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection will attend.
In non-governmental testimony, Mote Marine Laboratory President and CEO Dr. Michael Crosby will also speak to the delegation. The Sarasota-based institution, headquartered in Buchanan’s congressional district, have received millions in federal funding to study red tide in the Gulf of Mexico.
And Michael Messmer, federal policy manager for Oceana, will also speak. The national group formed in 1999 after a nonprofit study found that less than 0.5% of all resources spent by environmental nonprofit groups in the United States went to ocean advocacy….
Jacob Ogles
Jacob Ogles has covered politics in Florida since 2000 for regional outlets including SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, The News-Press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg. His work has appeared nationally in The Advocate, Wired and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of Southwest Florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota have featured his insights. He can be reached at jacobogles@hotmail.com.
