By BRUCE RITCHIE FLORIDA ENVIRONMENTS.COM A court official has denied a motion by Georgia to dismiss a U. S. Supreme Court lawsuit by Florida seeking to cap Georgia’s water use. Florida in 2013 asked the Supreme Court to intervene following the crash of the oyster population in Apalachicola Bay. Alabama, Florida and Georgia have battled […]
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Florida Gov. Rick Scott met Tuesday with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal as part of a continuing round of private meetings to discuss water issues. Alabama, Florida and Georgia have been fighting in court over water since 1990. In 2013, Florida asked the U. S. Supreme Court to cap Georgia’s water use at 1992 levels to protect water […]
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
EASTPOINT — After a morning spent working with seafood harvesters on Apalachicola Bay, U. S. Rep. Gwen Graham said Tuesday she is introducing legislation to require federal reservoir managers to consider the bay’s freshwater needs. Alabama, Florida and Georgia have been battling in federal court for 25 years over water from the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers, […]
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Comments Off on DEP says no “critical” funding would force state parks to close
By BRUCE RITCHIE Florida would be forced to close state parks without approval of a new state budget that provides for at least “critical” spending, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. DEP on Monday issued a list of critical funding needs as requested last week by Gov. Rick Scott in advance of a June 1-20 […]
Monday, May 4, 2015
By BRUCE RITCHIE FLORIDAENVIRONMENTS.COM Gov. Rick Scott on Monday reappointed Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Jon Steverson along with 15 other agency heads following the Senate’s failure to confirm. The Senate failed to vote on many of Scott’s appointments last week as the 2015 legislative session broke down amid an impasse between the House and […]
Friday, February 6, 2015
Comments Off on Florida, Georgia issue subpoenas to groups in water legal fight
By BRUCE RITCHIE FLORIDA ENVIRONMENTS Environmental groups in Georgia and a seafood workers group in Franklin County are among the organizations required to turn over information in a legal dispute over water between Florida and Georgia. Alabama, Florida and Georgia have been fighting in court over water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system since 1990. In […]
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Comments Off on Governor provides Amendment 1 spending breakdown
By BRUCE RITCHIE FLORIDA ENVIRONMENTS Gov. Rick Scott’s office on Thursday provided a breakdown of how the governor requests $757 million provided by Amendment 1 be spent in the 2015-16 state budget. Amendment 1, approved by voters in November, provides one third of the revenue from an excise tax on real estate transactions to the […]
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Comments Off on Georgia claims Florida is responsible for collapse of Apalachicola Bay oysters
BY BRUCE RITCHIE FLORIDAENVIRONMENTS Georgia is denying it caused the decline of oysters in Apalachicola Bay beginning in 2012 and says Florida is responsible for environmental problems along the Apalachicola River. Alabama, Florida and Georgia have been battling in court since 1990 over water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River system. Florida contends that increasing water use […]
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Comments Off on Scientists question Scott’s commitment on climate after meeting
By BRUCE RITCHIE FLORIDAENVIRONMENTS.COM Scientists who met Tuesday with Gov. Rick Scott to explain the threat of climate change said the governor asked only modest questions while withholding comment on the issue. “He asked modest questions but he did not ask questions that reflected his understanding of the material,” Eckerd College Professor David Hastings said. […]
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Comments Off on Barbs aimed at Florida governor during journalism conference
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 […]
Monday, June 22, 2015
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