BY BRUCE RITCHIE There’s new opposition to bills that would repeal a state septic tank inspection requirement: A Tallahassee official told senators this week that the bill could make it more difficult to restore Wakulla Springs. The Legislature in 2010 adopted a statewide septic tank inspection requirement that supporters said would protect springs and groundwater. [...]
Monday, February 6, 2012
By Bruce Ritchie Floridaenvironments.com After scoring victories last week, environmental group lobbyists at the Florida Capitol say there is plenty more work to do during the 2012 legislative session. Environmental groups dropped their opposition on Tuesday to HB 503 dealing with environmental permitting and HB 639 dealing with reclaimed water after they were amended to [...]
Sunday, October 23, 2011
While hundreds of journalists gathered in Miami for the Society of Environmental Journalists national conference, Florida Gov. Rick Scott was firing another shot across environmentalists’ bow. Scott wasn’t at the SEJ conference but his policies were the target of analysis, criticism and quips by various speakers and protesters outside. In the past most governors have [...]
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Some said they felt welcomed by the Society of Environmental Journalists, others felt marginalized by the organization. More than 100 protestors for varying causes held signs, beat drums and chanted Saturday at a “Rally for the Environment” in a park outside the International Hotel in Miami, site of SEJ’s national conference. Ana Campos of Fort [...]
Friday, September 23, 2011
Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection appear to be exercising more control over the state’s five water management districts, calling for statewide consistency while providing “one clear and consistent message.” But Tom Swihart, author of “Florida’s Water: A Fragile Resource in a Vulnerable State,” says Florida wouldn’t have been able to [...]
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Some environmental groups may be in agreement with Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel Vinyard that the state’s land-buying list needs closer scrutiny. Vinyard last week announced that $700 million was being cut from budgets of the state’s five water management districts. More than $200 million of the cuts were from the districts’ land [...]
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The environment didn’t cause the recession so it shouldn’t become victim of the current political climate. So says Florida nature writer Bill Belleville, author of “Salvaging the Real Florida: Lost and Found in the State of Dreams.” He hopes his new book will help people develop their own environmental ethic that may turn the political [...]
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Scott told reporters after visiting DEP in February that he enjoys visiting state parks and they should be protected. After a week of controversy involving Florida Park Service proposals to put recreational vehicle campgrounds in four state parks, Gov. Rick Scott announced last Friday he was pulling the plug on at least the proposal at [...]
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Gov. Rick Scott last month reappointed Cari Roth to the state Environmental Regulation Commission. But if recent history is an indicator, she shouldn’t find the position to be too time-consuming. The ERC sets standards and rules for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Most issues that go before the commission deal with air pollution, water [...]
Monday, June 20, 2011
With the stroke of a pen last month, Gov. Rick Scott turned Florida from a conservation land-buyer to a land seller. Florida had the largest land-buying program in the nation with more than 2 million acres purchased since 1990. The Florida Forever program received $300 million a year until state revenues started slipping in 2009, [...]
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Saturday, March 3, 2012
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