Dear Friends of Florida's waters:
Many Floridians are reflecting today on yesterday's election. There were victories and there were disappointments. That's usually the case, although I can say that I have been through elections that left little or nothing to celebrate, so I'm grateful that Amendment 1 passed by a huge, huge majority and that Gwen Graham was elected the first woman to represent Congressional District #2 (roughly Panama City to Tallahassee). As you may remember, just a few months ago it was the incumbent in that race, Steve Southerland who sponsored the bill to undermine the new federal definition of isolated wetlands. He was no friend of the environment, or women, or freedom in my opinion. So Graham's victory is a victory for all of us, our state, our country and our planet.
With Amendment 1 we will now have dedicated funding for land preservation - $10 billion over the next 20 years. This is a huge victory for Florida's most precious places, waters, coastlines, etc. We all owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the folks who worked hard to make this happen.
Also I understand that Martin County maintained a majority of County Commissioners who are environmentally minded and are working to protect Martin County from crazy development projects. Hurray for Ed Fielding and everyone who worked to get him re-elected.
There are likely many other victory stories from around the state. Please write me a short email to share your local outcomes that will result in a better environment where you live. I'll compile them and share them in the next e-newsletter that goes out to our members.
It seems to me that many voters in Florida must not have realized how anti-environment Rick Scott has been over the past four years. I say this because he got 48% of the votes and yet 75% of Florida voters voted yes on Amendment 1. There is an inconsistency here that has kept me pondering all day long. Many of Rick Scott's supporters had to also vote for Amendment 1, so they care about the environment but still voted for Scott.
The good news that I take away from this is that 75% of Florida voters (yesterday) care about our environment. That is great news and anytime you run into local or state elected officials who don't want to vote or act in a pro-environment way, remind them of this vote. Remind them that people in Florida DO CARE about their environment. We will push onward for the things that we value and do our best to hold decision makers accountable for their decisions.
Linda Young, Director
Florida Clean Water Network
Many Floridians are reflecting today on yesterday's election. There were victories and there were disappointments. That's usually the case, although I can say that I have been through elections that left little or nothing to celebrate, so I'm grateful that Amendment 1 passed by a huge, huge majority and that Gwen Graham was elected the first woman to represent Congressional District #2 (roughly Panama City to Tallahassee). As you may remember, just a few months ago it was the incumbent in that race, Steve Southerland who sponsored the bill to undermine the new federal definition of isolated wetlands. He was no friend of the environment, or women, or freedom in my opinion. So Graham's victory is a victory for all of us, our state, our country and our planet.
With Amendment 1 we will now have dedicated funding for land preservation - $10 billion over the next 20 years. This is a huge victory for Florida's most precious places, waters, coastlines, etc. We all owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the folks who worked hard to make this happen.
Also I understand that Martin County maintained a majority of County Commissioners who are environmentally minded and are working to protect Martin County from crazy development projects. Hurray for Ed Fielding and everyone who worked to get him re-elected.
There are likely many other victory stories from around the state. Please write me a short email to share your local outcomes that will result in a better environment where you live. I'll compile them and share them in the next e-newsletter that goes out to our members.
It seems to me that many voters in Florida must not have realized how anti-environment Rick Scott has been over the past four years. I say this because he got 48% of the votes and yet 75% of Florida voters voted yes on Amendment 1. There is an inconsistency here that has kept me pondering all day long. Many of Rick Scott's supporters had to also vote for Amendment 1, so they care about the environment but still voted for Scott.
The good news that I take away from this is that 75% of Florida voters (yesterday) care about our environment. That is great news and anytime you run into local or state elected officials who don't want to vote or act in a pro-environment way, remind them of this vote. Remind them that people in Florida DO CARE about their environment. We will push onward for the things that we value and do our best to hold decision makers accountable for their decisions.
Linda Young, Director
Florida Clean Water Network
2 comments:
This is a ray of sunshine in a dim situation. Now everyone needs to be pay attention to the process. How will the distribution be handled? Who will be appointed to what positions? It is a huge opportunity and it can't be squandered.
Will be interesting on how the funds get invested in areas in which they are collected or if funds go to areas of greatest need around the State....
Steve Hagen, Miami
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