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A Message from Sandy Moret
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You've seen the horrible images of thousands of dead fish, manatees and turtles. Parts of Florida are experiencing another toxic summer due to water mismanagement by elected officials, a problem that has been going on for decades. You've asked us what you can do to change it. Well the answer is...VOTE!
Early voting in Florida's primaries started last week. This is a critical election that will decide whether Florida moves forward with clean water policies, or if it continues sacrificing the health of our water and ecosystems for the benefit of a few, as the state has been doing for decades.
We have included voter guides from our partner 501(c)4 organizations that identify the best clean water candidates, and hope you will consider them as you make these critical choices.
The future of the Everglades and Florida's clean water is in our hands, and every vote counts.
Best,
Islamorada, FL
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Lee County workers and contractors so far this month have pulled more than 2.7 million pounds of dead fish and sea creatures from local beaches.
Areas cleaned up include Boca Grande, Sanibel Causeway islands, Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Beach county parks, Captiva, Upper Captiva and St. James City, according to Lee County records.
The numbers do not include Sanibel or Fort Myers Beach and parts of Captiva.
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Rick Scott has long been a target for environmental protesters. After his election in 2010, he wasted no time bulldozing environmental protections that had been decades in the bipartisan making. He gutted the state's five regional water management districts, slashing their budgets by $700 million and packing their appointed boards with developers. He oversaw the firing of 134 employees at Florida's Department of Environmental Protection. Taking up the mantle of big polluters, he battled and eventually bested the EPA on the implementation of clean water standards.
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What is causing Florida's algae crisis? Five questions answered
Two large-scale algae outbreaks in Florida are killing fish and threatening public health. Along the southwest coast, one of the longest-lasting red tide outbreaks in the state's history is affecting more than 100 miles of beaches.
Meanwhile, discharges of polluted fresh water from Lake Okeechobee and polluted local runoff water from the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee watersheds have caused blooms of blue-green algae in downstream estuaries on both coasts.
Karl Havens, a professor at the University of Florida and director of the Florida Sea Grant Program, explains what's driving this two-pronged disaster.
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If history repeats itself, the red tide plaguing a large swath of our inshore Gulf coast will eventually go away. The dead fish and other marine life that succumbed to the harmful algae will be removed from beaches and basins. The respiratory irritation experienced by humans will subside.
And legions of Floridians will forget the anger and dismay they now feel while viewing photographs and watching video of the impacts of red tide.
It happened after the 2005-06 red tide, one of the worst in Florida's recorded history, that resulted in a "dead zone" the size of Rhode Island on the Gulf bottom and caused massive losses of fish and marine mammals. It happened after a two-year episode, from 1994 to 1996, and following the 1953-54 red tide that was, at the time, the longest on record.
As the blooms faded, so did the negative environmental and economic impacts that generated public outcry.
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This newsletter represents the opinions of the Now or Neverglades founding partners.
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