The reason I cheer the appearance in the mainstream press about a new investigative report on Florida's environment is that so little light shines on the true state of the Everglades and Florida's natural habitat. People who really know how screwed up Florida's environment and politics are, find themselves in an extraordinarily difficult position. Tell the truth and the general public groans and retracts. Tell a false story of "good news", and keep the public engaged at least for a little while longer. Pittman wrote the best book of 2009, "Paving Paradise: Florida's vanishing wetlands". It was a must-read because it pulled the layers of artifice from the government agencies and politicians who are on the good news hamster wheel. Tomorrow, the St. Pete Times prints a new Pittman series, 2 years in the making, on the struggle of the Florida panther for survival. It is available online, here.
Why is the Florida panther important, beyond providing a symbol for high school and college and professional sports teams?Because if we can protect the panther-- really protect the panther-- we save the habitats that nurture the web of life that comprise the Everglades. The problem: local elected officials and state politicians and permitting agencies don't care a rat's ass about really protecting the Everglades. As Pittman documents, it is all about giving land speculators and developers the permits they need to gobble up land at the edges, inventing a "new reality" and narrative about the Everglades and the Florida panther.
That's the backdrop and recalls the outstanding series by then Washington Post writer Michael Grunwald: ""You can't stop it," said Al Hoffman, the most influential developer in a state crowded with influential developers. "There's no power on earth that can stop it!" Hoffman, the energetic leader of WCI Communities Inc., knows a bit about power. He was co-chair of George W. Bush's presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee's finance chair. Now he's the top money man for Gov. Jeb Bush -- a former developer himself -- and heads an exclusive council of CEOs who advise the governor on policy. A scribbled note from the president hangs on his office wall: "You are the man!" The unstoppable force Hoffman was talking about is the runaway development marching from southwest Florida toward the Everglades. The Naples area was the second-fastest-growing in America in the 1990s. The Fort Myers-Cape Coral area is not far behind. And the gated golf course communities that have come to define this subtropical mecca are spreading east. "It's an inevitable tidal wave!" declared Hoffman, 68." (Washington Post, June 25, 2002) Of course, WCI Communities filed for bankruptcy and is, today, another 'dead cat walking'.
It is a disgusting story, and it has to be told. Just last week, a federal court judge -- Alan S. Gold-- acknowledged that at least his court understands the real narrative. Judge Gold's ruling, to paraphrase, told the EPA and the state of Florida that he was sick and tired of hearing lies and excuses why environmental agencies like the EPA could not follow the nation's top environmental laws. But this news has to be shared. It has to find its way to the public, where all kinds of constituents angry with government have yet to figure out the math.
Here's a sample from Pittman's report: "Most of the projects the Fish and Wildlife Service has approved since 1995 are in Collier County. The largest is the new town of Ave Maria, which in 2005 was given permission to destroy 5,027 acres of habitat that had been nine miles from the nearest suburb." Pittman doesn't say, but it is clear enough that the Jeb Bush environmental destruction machinery caused Ave Maria, for the benefit of right-wing pizza king Tom Monaghan, to be zoned and permitted in panther habitat. It goes without saying that Monaghan is a top contributor to GOP causes. Right now, Collier County and Miami-Dade County are aiming to pass a comprehensive master plan amendment to create a 1600 acre off-road vehicle park in the middle of the Big Cypress National Preserve; prime panther habitat. The state agency helping to push this idiotic plan is chaired by Rodney Barreto, one of Jeb's top lieutenants in the old regime.
It does add up, and it is a very, very sad story for Florida and the nation.
9 comments:
Ave Maria is a travesty. It is beyond sprawl. It is criminal planning. They say we don't need Amendment 4, this is an example of the need.
Rodney Barreto is the fox guarding the henhouse in fish & wildlife- he got the post because he hunts and goes fishing only wanting animals for sport. Crist should dump these Jeb leftovers.
Isn't the St. Pete Times the paper that writes about how expensive and deceitful that city's Amendment 4-style experiment has been? And of course you don't mention that Ave Maria was a deal to create a compact rural village in exchange for permanently preserving vastly more habitat in more ecologically sensitive areas of the county, made possible by the Rural Land Stewardship program, the most progressive ecological preservation system in the country, supported by every state environmental group, that Floridians should be proud of and every county adopt. But that would be progressive planning, which would distract from Amendment 4. Anyone who cares about balanced facts and progressive policy can't take this blog seriously.
Sounds like the Rick Santorum fan club.
The Disinformation Campaign on Amendment 4 continues: In St. Pete Beach the lawsuits are flying because the Hometown Democracy process was not followed. Under Hometown Democracy, there will be a referendum only after the growth plan change is reviewed and voted on by the city commission. In St. Pete Beach they had the referendum before the proposed plan change went through review and public hearing. That violates state law. Glad to correct the public record. As for "compact village": what environmental groups supported Ave Maria in the Everglades? Make sure you check your sources.
Warning this isn't an open forum to bash issues close to our heart...find another blog for that purpose. We aren't a platform for the other side to spew their talking points and misinformation.
No enviromental group said Ava Maria was a good idea.Their are some paid cronies that pepper the media with lies.The time for compromise is over. Florida needs to be saved.Jeb Bush and his cronies should be in prison.Under Jebs watch we lost over 200,000 acres of wetlands,He moved a critical deadline for invasive species (melaluca,etc)from 2006 to 2016 so his builder buddies could destroy even more habitat.Jeb Bush had an inventory taken of EVERY SINGLE ACRE OF VACANT LAND IN FLORIDA he even had the taxpayers pay for that.
So the St. Pete Times is to be unquestioned in their integrity when they write about environmental issues, but they are not to be believed in the slightest when they write about how planning by referendum doesn't solve anything? Seems that a policy of skepticism should at least be accompanied by a policy of consistency of application of the first policy.
Rural Land Stewardship is supported by 1000 Friends of Florida, Florida Wildlife Federation, Council for Sustainable Florida, Florida Stewardship Council, Florida Audubon, Nature Conservancy, etc. Ave Maria is a product of RLS.
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