Next week Environmental Journalists from all over the country will flock here in Miami for their National conference. Jim Harper wrote about what they will find here. I don't like to take entire articles From the Miami Herald for our blog however this one is just too good. Everyone should read this article, email it to your City and County Commissioners:
Don’t take our natural resources for granted
BY JIM HARPER
jim@harperfish.com
What’s the state of the environment in Miami?
Now is a good time to ask this question, because Miami will be under the green microscope as it hosts the 21st annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists next week. Will those outsiders be impressed or distressed by our way of life?
They will certainly be impressed by South Florida’s natural gifts — especially its aquatic environments. Our beaches, bays, reefs and wetlands have maintained their superficial beauty and continue to feed our tourism-based economy. But what if those ecosystems faded or, worse, were completely washed away?
This dissolving future is not a question of “if” but of “when.” Miami is considered the world’s most vulnerable city to the effects of a rising ocean. Because our landscape is so flat, even a sea-level rise of one foot could be devastating. Current projections are trending toward a three-foot rise within this century, which means the first foot of seawater could arrive with the next generation. Scientists cannot predict exactly when it will happen, but they can provide enough certainty to make flood insurance in South Florida an endangered species.
Experts and concerned citizens around the world can foresee our flooded future, but most people here live in the bliss of ignorance. Sea-level rise, and even the overarching issue of climate change, hardly register a blip on the public’s radar screen. Irrelevancy is the state of our attitude toward the environment.
Stop the average local on the street and ask them to describe their concerns about the environment and you will get a blank stare. But things are hardly better at the state level. So let’s blame all Floridians for tearing up our state’s natural beauty — but especially the snowbirds. Those northerners created the demand that spurred Florida’s growth and its economy based on the myth of perpetual expansion. Even in Florida, you can only sell so much real estate.
So, South Floridians, let’s admit some of our guilt before the journalists pry it out of us. The city of Miami is the least green city in the country. Based on open spaces, Miami has the lowest amount of park acreage, per capita, of any major city.
South Florida is one of the nation’s last places that still dumps its partially treated sewage directly into the ocean. One submarine outfall in Palm Beach County was shut down in 2009, and the other five ocean outfalls are supposed to go offline by 2025. But like so many promises in this state, we can only believe it when we see it.
Let’s not even touch transportation. If we all keep quiet, maybe those pesky journalists won’t notice anything. Also don’t talk about recycling, and the lack thereof, unless you focus on the public recycling bins that the City of Miami Beach installed last year in the tourist zones. Those shiny cans distract visitors from looking into our overloaded landfills.
Sure, success stories exist. Voters in Miami-Dade County “held the line” of the Urban Development Boundary that limits expansion into wetlands. Alligator populations have rebounded from endangered to everywhere.
But many stories betray South Florida’s habitual capitulation to developers and an inability to learn from our mistakes. Invasive species are so common that native things are unknown, and now the Burmese python makes us ground zero for yet another unnatural disaster.
The blessings of natural resources are taken for granted here perhaps more than in any other part of the United States, because residents simply don’t understand them. They don’t know what plants are native to South Florida, they don’t know what lives in beautiful Biscayne Bay, and they don’t know that the Biscayne aquifer, which supplies our drinking water, is vulnerable to salt-water intrusion as sea levels rise.
The state of Miami’s environment is unknown because our collective head is buried comfortably in the sand (That lovely sand on our beautiful beaches was imported from the Bahamas, but we don’t want to know about that, either). Journalists, please don’t ask, because South Florida has nothing to tell.
Jim Harper is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and a professor at FIU.
Now is a good time to ask this question, because Miami will be under the green microscope as it hosts the 21st annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists next week. Will those outsiders be impressed or distressed by our way of life?
They will certainly be impressed by South Florida’s natural gifts — especially its aquatic environments. Our beaches, bays, reefs and wetlands have maintained their superficial beauty and continue to feed our tourism-based economy. But what if those ecosystems faded or, worse, were completely washed away?
This dissolving future is not a question of “if” but of “when.” Miami is considered the world’s most vulnerable city to the effects of a rising ocean. Because our landscape is so flat, even a sea-level rise of one foot could be devastating. Current projections are trending toward a three-foot rise within this century, which means the first foot of seawater could arrive with the next generation. Scientists cannot predict exactly when it will happen, but they can provide enough certainty to make flood insurance in South Florida an endangered species.
Experts and concerned citizens around the world can foresee our flooded future, but most people here live in the bliss of ignorance. Sea-level rise, and even the overarching issue of climate change, hardly register a blip on the public’s radar screen. Irrelevancy is the state of our attitude toward the environment.
Stop the average local on the street and ask them to describe their concerns about the environment and you will get a blank stare. But things are hardly better at the state level. So let’s blame all Floridians for tearing up our state’s natural beauty — but especially the snowbirds. Those northerners created the demand that spurred Florida’s growth and its economy based on the myth of perpetual expansion. Even in Florida, you can only sell so much real estate.
So, South Floridians, let’s admit some of our guilt before the journalists pry it out of us. The city of Miami is the least green city in the country. Based on open spaces, Miami has the lowest amount of park acreage, per capita, of any major city.
South Florida is one of the nation’s last places that still dumps its partially treated sewage directly into the ocean. One submarine outfall in Palm Beach County was shut down in 2009, and the other five ocean outfalls are supposed to go offline by 2025. But like so many promises in this state, we can only believe it when we see it.
Let’s not even touch transportation. If we all keep quiet, maybe those pesky journalists won’t notice anything. Also don’t talk about recycling, and the lack thereof, unless you focus on the public recycling bins that the City of Miami Beach installed last year in the tourist zones. Those shiny cans distract visitors from looking into our overloaded landfills.
Sure, success stories exist. Voters in Miami-Dade County “held the line” of the Urban Development Boundary that limits expansion into wetlands. Alligator populations have rebounded from endangered to everywhere.
But many stories betray South Florida’s habitual capitulation to developers and an inability to learn from our mistakes. Invasive species are so common that native things are unknown, and now the Burmese python makes us ground zero for yet another unnatural disaster.
The blessings of natural resources are taken for granted here perhaps more than in any other part of the United States, because residents simply don’t understand them. They don’t know what plants are native to South Florida, they don’t know what lives in beautiful Biscayne Bay, and they don’t know that the Biscayne aquifer, which supplies our drinking water, is vulnerable to salt-water intrusion as sea levels rise.
The state of Miami’s environment is unknown because our collective head is buried comfortably in the sand (That lovely sand on our beautiful beaches was imported from the Bahamas, but we don’t want to know about that, either). Journalists, please don’t ask, because South Florida has nothing to tell.
Jim Harper is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and a professor at FIU.
6 comments:
Voters didn't "Hold The Line". The line is under continual pressure by land speculators. Before Rick Scott was elected governor, the Florida DCA held the line. But once Scott was elected, the DCA was kicked into the trash heap. Watch how carefully the Miami Dade County commissioners are exercising their new authority to call the shots. Careful. Not rushing. But Parkland and Krome Gold are right there on the planning boards as long as they can find gullible lenders or greedy homebuilders like Lennar to carry the weight. Get your facts strait, Mr. Harper.
Carlos Gimenez said on Wednesday that he would like to see voters vote on moving the UDB line. I can just imagine what the ad campaigns will be like...although I have more faith in the voters than most of the County Commission - our unreformable majority.
Speaking of Krome Gold (which Gimenez approved) and Parkland. Martinez has his, what I call, LBA breach the UDB Ordinance on 10/18/2011 coming up for a first read:
112019 Ordinance Joe A. Martinez, Prime Sponsor
ORDINANCE RELATING TO ZONING; MODIFYING NOTICE REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES FOR APPLICATIONS TO EXTEND EXPIRATION DATES, BUILD OUT DATES, AND PHASING DEADLINES IN CERTAIN PREVIOUSLY APPROVED DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL IMPACT DEVELOPMENT ORDERS AND RELATED ZONING ACTIONS; AMENDING SECTIONS 33-303.1, 33-309, 33-310, AND 33-311 OF THE CODE OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA; PROVIDING SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN THE CODE, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE
And, one more thing, on a difference topic but related. How do I get an update on the US Century Bank consent order. Once again, I'm lost in the FDIC website.
There's Occupy Miami on Saturday afternoon at Bayfront Park. Make the lack of care of our natural environment one of the issues Miami is not happy about. Show the journalists we are paying attention and do care.
Thanks Jim Harper for bringing the issue forward at such a critical moment.
They should wrap up their week here with Front row seats at the Zoning hearing on 20Oct2011!
We will be more that excited to help peel back the thin veneer of Miami Dade's
'Environmental Stewardship'
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