Saving the Everglades
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 08.22.07
After the United Nations decided to drop the Florida Everglades like a cheating ex from its list of threatened World Heritage Sites, the U.S. Congress rather gallantly stepped into the breach. Three major Florida water projects that will help restore what writer Michael Grunwald calls "the ecological equivalent of motherhood and apple pie," are now part of a $21 billion national water bill that made it through House and Senate negotiations.
The White House isn't enthused about picking up the potential tab, but political analysts say there might be enough Senate votes in favor of the bill to override a Presidential veto.
“After years of congressional inaction to tackle Florida’s Everglades restoration, I am pleased to see Congress reaffirm its commitment,” says Ron Klein, a U.S. Representative from Florida who has repeatedly backed a series of Everglades restoration bills that failed to pass.
Good intentions aside, the region's pesticide-intensive agricultural practices may impede any sizable attempt to restore the 16,000-square-mile ecosystem, mainly by leaching chemicals into the groundwater.
Could hemp be the answer? Sunn hemp, a tall, herbaceous annual that grows rapidly to a height of 6 to 7 feet, can reduce groundwater contamination, say scientists from the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the University of Florida, while reducing soil erosion, discouraging weeds, and enriching soil. The widely misunderstood crop can also be used to manufacture cloth, twine, paper, and rope.
Of course, we have those pesky zero-tolerance drug laws to deal with first. We for one are not holding our breaths. ::E Magazine and ::Newswise
Its not enough!
Yes Florida is underway, developing a master plan to combat climate change and we do have these projects working to save the Everglades.
What we also have is a list as big as the everglades of crooked, greased palmed politicians that continue to allow the destruction of Florida's amazing wetlands.
Liberti, Massoloti, Newell, Exline...those are all names of county or city commissioners prosecuted by the federal goverment for things like honest service fraud and tax evasion in the last 18 months!
The politicians get their kickback from the developers and our wetlands get destroyed. This is a lose, lose situation for everyone.
Agriculture - NO MORE BACKPUMPING. Do not allow pumping these pesticides and fertilizers into Lake Okeechobee. Enough is enough.
No more wetland development. Look, I make my livelihood in construction. But I oppose the willful and irresponsible destruction of our irreplaceable wetlands.
All of south Florida is under water restrictions as Lake Okeechobee is 4.5 feet below normal for this time of year. But yet we have county commissioners ready to approve the construction of 20,000 new homes? Where will the water to supply these homes come from?
Oh, lets not forget Florida Power and Light getting approval for construction of a new coal powered power plant basically circumventing all environmental permitting. The Army Corp of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District exist to keep this stuff from happening. How did they get approval? What went wrong?
Enough is enough. Please help us in Florida. Like everybody else in this fight, we're fighting and losing and it sucks!