Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Antique Army Corps Video on that Pesky Water in the Everglades. By Geniusofdespair


This promotional video -- Waters of Destiny -- would be very funny as a relic of the past (late 50's?) if we weren't stuck with the results of what the Army Corps did here. The video details the "mammoth project" of draining the Everglades. The narrator says absurd stuff about the water flow in the Everglades, such as: we have to "Make the water do our bidding" and he calls it "Water that ruined the rich terrain." Then the Corps, on the video, celebrated the cattle ranches, industrial building locations and farms that the drained Everglades provided. Skip to 6:00 on the counter if you are an impatient sort.
Don't see the video? Hit this link.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's like a manifesto of the Chamber of Commerce. Notice how crystal clear the ocean water is, in the early shots. It was like that the whole way down the east coast and into the Florida Keys. No more.

Anonymous said...

Have we come a long way? That film is as nuts as Gov. Scott's transition team suggesting merging the Florida Department of Transportation with Environmental Protection and Community Affairs and calling it the Department of Growth Leadership.

Geniusofdespair said...

Maybe Scott saw this film and will model his policy after it.

Anonymous said...

Read The Swamp, it is the best expose on the destruction of the Glades.

Geniusofdespair said...

Read it.

Anonymous said...

Read "The Swamp" indeed - by Michael Grunwald. Got the book as a Christmas gift and coincidentally, I'm reading about the C&SF and "Waters of Destiny" as I write this. Another must read is "Paving Paradise" by Craig Pittman and Matthew Waite. These books are guaranteed to have a huge impact on anyone who reads them!

Anonymous said...

Progress, what a joke! The Corps of Engineers hasn’t changed since the 50’s; still puppets for developers like Armando Codina, Lennar and Sergio Pino and who’s funding is controlled by members of the US Congress – that we elect! Witness the foot-dragging on the part of the Corps in Pino’s recent and historic criminal charges and fine regarding wetlands mitigation.

Sparrow said...

You cant blame the Corps when all it did was carry out the American charge to "tame" the wild frontier. Before the Corps there was the Homestead Act and the give away of lands in the West to the Railroads, all in the name of promoting human settlement to the detriment of nature. I suppose it's human nature to strive for "development" - but with all the tragic lessons (sadly, the drained 'Glades is just one of many ruined treasures)I think at last we're trying to insert "sustainable" in there somewhere.

Anonymous said...

This video is so absurd it is funny. Where did you find it?