The following comments by Brad Sewell, Natural Resource Defense Council attorney, in response to news last week that the US Army Corps of Engineers had issued its Record of Decision on Lake Belt Rock Mining permits, that had been overturned in federal court and waiting for new permits by the Corps. (I wrote about this recently, at Eyeonmiami and in the national online journal, Counterpunch. The top officer of the Corps, Obama-appointee Rock Salt, was deeply involved during his time as District Engineer in South Florida in the plan judged to be illegal.) "Exactly eight days after an appellate court concluded that the Corps was wrong when it allowed about 5,000 acres of wetlands to be mined in the historic Everglades, with the ink barely dry, the Corps appears to have decided to allow more than 10,000 acres of mining -- including the exact areas that the court agreed were unlawfully permitted before."
"The courts have found that this mining poses significant threats to public drinking water supplies and Everglades restoration, but, at least based on this press release, the Corps continues not to do its job and protect these incredibly important public
resources. By law, the Corps is only supposed to approve permits when it is in the public interest, and not simply in the private interests of corporations. . What could conceivably be the public interest in digging up the Everglades when demand for its limestone is so low in Florida that the mining companies are shipping the rock to Panama, exactly what is happening now."
"There was broad support from a lot of groups for a mining plan that would have protected the public water supply and the Everglades, still provided a full decade of mining and allowed for studies considered critical even by the Corps to be done. We are disappointed, and the public is not being well served by the Corps' rejection of this compromise mining plan and its approval of the mining companies' plans instead."
8 comments:
You see what I mean, when I said you were the only one I could think of that would use words like "ruberick"?
It's one thing to know those words and have an expansive vocabulary, which you obviously do. It's another to know your audience.
You've already impressed me with your passion to fight what you consider "the good fight", whether I agree with you philosophically, or not.
Maybe I'm just a little too "Beer and Pizza" for words like "Pyrrhic".
m
M- if you want a fifth grade reading level you can always read the Miami Herald... Or my posts.
The Herald basically said as much on Sunday when they were defending the inordinate number of typos and grammatical errors found by a former public school teacher in their paper -- by explaining they have to cater their copy to their audience.
Dear M,
1 In your google search write "Pyrrhic Victory"
2. Press button that says "Enter".
3. Read definition
It's easier than ordering a pizza! Much easier than getting a beer!
The educated and intelligent person is not the one that knows the information; she is the one that knows how to find it.... and then does so.
Love, the other M (TOM)
Is this paste safe to eat?
m
Dear m:
Yes, the paste is safe to eat. Always; only an anti-American would claim otherwise. Enjoy the bounty of terror-free American* paste!
Yours,
National Council of Paste
*does not denote country of origin or manufacture.
I can't believe there are 6 comments about whether the word "pyrrhic" should have been used or not. This is about the water supply for one million people, folks! Instead of word play, call Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez's office and ask him what he is going to do to keep mining away from the Northwest wellfield.
The lack of relevant comments is connected to how environmentally ignorant and uncaring the public acts concerning this issue. It doesn't affect boaters, sport fishing, or beach-goers, so who cares?
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