We hesitate to do this post simply because we can not do justice to the great panels and presentations throughout the day on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. Presented annually entirely by students at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, the conference traditionally has been a two-day event with a hefty registration fee. Due to Covid, this year it was one day and, happily, free to anyone. The conference was professionally organized and presented and designed for a super-fast lunch break. Luckily, being on Zoom, once could snack while watching the presentations.
Coincidently this year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Clean Water Act of 1972, aimed at regulating pollution in the nation’s waters. Some of our panelists describe how Florida’s leaders, not to be outsmarted, have found ways to circumvent these laws and continue merrily onward polluting as never before.
Keynote speaker and highlight of the conference was Betty Osceola, well-known advocate for the environment and prominent leader of the Miccosukee people in the Everglades. We had the honor and pleasure of meeting and accompanying her on one of the SouthWings flights over the Mosaic lands of destruction several years ago.
Osceola’s life is very spiritual and totally entwined with nature. She emphasized that we are part of nature and the ecosystem and we are just one element like the plants and animals. Her actions are always predicated on the effect they will have on the other creatures with which she shares her world. To understand the environment one must live close to it as indigenous peoples have done for centuries. In order to be able to advocate for the environment first one must understand it. Understanding the environment sometimes requires the old knowledge of our ancestors, and the new is not always better just because it is new.
We have run out of time according to Osceola, and we must evolve and learn how to incorporate the natural systems into going forward. Our ancestors lived without technology and we may have to return to that. Florida is not moving in the right direction to preserve the environment. Litigation which has been prevalent lately should not be the first step but used as a last resort. Education may be achieved by using art/activism, creating film and music to educate using different media.
Reference to politics was made mentioning that the Biden administration has given credence to indigenous peoples although she did not mention the name of Deb Haaland, first indigenous person to be Secretary of the Interior.
We will not undertake the description or commentary on all participants as they were all excellent but too many to include.
Professor Keith Rizzardi outlined succinctly the four “Ds” enveloping Florida water laws, these being Denial, Delay, Delusion and Defunding. Our DEP is recycling but not meeting our requirements. The solution to the Florida water law dilemma is to educate everyone. Others in his panel were the always-active Jaclyn Lopez of Center for Biological Diversity and OSFR’s own advisor Tom Kay of Alachua Conservation Trust. The ACT is preserving many tracts of land along the Santa Fe River, either buying or leasing them so that they will not fall to the developer or home builder.
Always strong was Rights of Nature leader Chuck O’Neal, outlining what may be our only hope against the Florida environment-killers that are our legislators. Among the information we learned was that Florida has lost more wetlands than any other state. O’Neal is somewhat optimistic about environmental improvement at the local level but less so at the state level. There is no common ground because with the state we have a monologue and not a dialogue.
Mark Chesnes, who might be the Nathan Crabbe of South Florida and who writes for TC Palm, gave an infuriating presentation about our DEP which refuses to protect anything and only writes letters urging compliance with the laws that farmers are egregiously flaunting around Lake Okeechobee. One large ranch continuously has about 22 times the allowable amounts of phosphorous on its land and it goes unchallenged by our non-enforcing DEP. Chesnes did not say this, but the obvious reason is that our state will not fight agriculture. They are not ready for that battle yet, but perhaps will be when our water is gone which at our current usage rate is not too far down the road. A final thought from Chesnes: “water is what draws people to Florida.”
Or did, we could say, until our state protectors killed the fish, crabs and manatees and turned it into toxic guacamole.
Rounding out the event, so heavy with information that it was almost too much to absorb, was the panel which included another OSFR advisor Mary Jane Angelo, whom we learned will retire this summer from the Levin faculty. As will also Christine Klein, one of our most faithful readers of many years. We wish them both the best in retirement and thank them for their environmental work and for their support.
And we wish to thank the Levin College of Law and all those who made this conference such a success for the public to enjoy.
