PODER by gimleteye

PODER magazine is a monthly magazine that targets the business elite of the U.S. Hispanic market, advertising itself as “intelligence for the Business Elite.”

The PODER-NAA Green Forum that recently concluded in Miami is one of a series of events organized by PODER magazine and the New America Alliance.

Today the Miami Herald reported that former vice president Al Gore declined to attend the event at the last minute, as final keynote speaker, because of the presence of Colombia’s president Avaro Uribe, under attack for links between his supporters and right-wing paramilitaries.

It's too bad that Gore couldn't attend, because from our point of view, it was at least as important for Gore to address a summit including the Miami political elite whose links to anti-environmental activities have corrupted our own local politics for generations and put the quality of life of millions of South Floridians at risk.

On this blog, we have tried to outline some of those issues that otherwise remain opaque to most people, hidden in rules and regulations altered to the benefit of special interests, whether down-listing manatees, or, "streamlining" the development of wetlands. It is a linkage that surely doesn't rise to the threshold of paramilitary operations against citizens, but then again, in the supression of citizen rights in petitioning our own government (in Miami-Dade County), we sense a distant relation.

According to the PODER website, "The day-long event, entitled A New Beginning for a Sustainable Future, will feature experts from the fields of science and economics along with government representatives, environmental advocates, business and civic leaders. The invitation-only forum will be held at Miami City Hall.The forum's partners are the City of Miami, the National Geographic Society, Georgetown University, Columbia University, Miami-Dade College, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense and the Inter American Development Bank."

The Miami elite would have benefited from listening to Al Gore, who recently gave his presentation on global warming to an enthusiastic, rapt audience for University of Miami students—and a few VIP’s like Mayor Manny Diaz and Related Group’s Jorge Perez—only a few months ago.

We hope the guest list included the prominent Hispanic and Anglo builders and developers and attorneys in Miami, who this blog frequently comments on, in the context of pressing environmental issues like the battle to protect the Urban Development Boundary or our watersheds, or the Everglades, or the coral reef.

It is about time some sense of ownership took root in Miami's power elite for a sustainable future, right here, that rises above the clamor for zoning changes and wetland fill permits and the list goes on and on.