El Nuevo Herald Columnist, Daniel Shoer Roth, on the UDB Line...AGAIN. By Geniusofdespair

He wrote about the UDB before on Nov. 25, 2007 (It is in our archive) and again this past week. This is a translation by a friend it is not exact.

DEAD NATURE by Daniel Shoer Roth

Less green and more grey, that is the color palette that emerges in our horizon.

One of the blessings of South Florida is its geography: the pure air that we breath, the subtropical climate joined by beaches, wetlands and coral reefs, two national parks, in conclusion a treasure of nature.

However, a group of politicians within the Miami-Dade Commission, indifferent and lacking vision, are determined to attempt against this privilege which sometimes we residents ignore, maybe because we are immerse in a routine that robs us the time to appreciate our environment.

It is a fact, regretful from any perspective, that the Urban Development Boundary, will be pushed west for the second time in this decade, bringing it closer to that lung called The Everglades, to pave the way to increased sprawl, responsible for the slow deterioration of the quality of life in this metropolitan area.

Aside from the ecological consequences of these two new projects, Thursday’s approval by the majority of the commissioners illustrates, in full daylight, how private interests here are placed above those of the community. (Hit read more)

What a shame! I bet that if the people of Miami had been consulted through referendum, the majority would have voted against the urban expansion.

The decision, which paves the way to move the imaginary border again in the future, is also a testimony of the stubbornness of those leaders that do not know how –or do not want- to listen. Repeatedly, the experts of the Miami-Dade Planning and Zoning Department and the Department of Community Affairs of the State of Florida have raised a red flag whenever presented with a plan to expand the boundary limits of this metropolis already saturated with cranes, blocks and cement.

“This is garbage. It depresses me”, said Mildred Real, President of Common Ground for Conservation, a Hispanic environmental group in Miami, today celebrating Earth Day with a festival at Amelia Earhart Park in Hialeah.

Some community organizations –supported by the commissioners—from adjacent areas to the projects, have sided with development, as it promises to attract a new school, more public services and a plethora of commercial malls, thus saving on transportation expenses and saving time in traffic.

I understand their frustration, although I have to admit that when I recently heard that by driving less the carbon dioxide emissions in South Dade will be reduced, I compared it to an argument by the Chilindrina, the freckled face girl of El Chavo del Ocho, well known by the expression “look, look, look…”

“It is hypocrisy. The solution is to demand our government to take appropriate measures to really lower the green house gas emissions, such as creating an efficient public transportation, not to build a shopping center close to houses, said Real.

With the subject of global warming in the international arena and rising of the oceans closer to the coasts of Florida, there is growing awareness among Miamians about the importance to protect the environment, except in the county commission. However, for years Hispanics have been criticized for a perceived lack of environmental sensibility.

That idea was dispersed two days ago, when the Sierra Club, a prominent national environmental group circulated a pioneer report about Hispanics in the United States and the environment. The survey by Miami’s Bendixen & Associates, found that among the 1,000 Latino voters consulted at the end of last month, 83 per cent expressed that environmental matters have a “lot” or “some” impact on the quality of life and the health of their families. In fact, 90 per cent responded that they feel “a moral responsibility to protect the Divine creation of the Earth”.

To care for it means to respect it and to leave it in peace. And now that there is consensus among scientists that it is not appropriate to build west of the Urban Development Boundary of Miami-Dade, I take the opportunity to suggest to the commissioners to examine in private their moral responsibility.