Author name: bruce

Gov. Charlie Crist this morning raised concerns about SB 2080, which would allow the heads of the state’s five water management districts to approve permits without a vote of their full boards. SB 2080 originally dealt with state landscaping requirements and received support from environmental groups. But it was amended late in the legislative session […]

Visitors crowd Shell Point Beach in Wakulla County on April 25 despite an advisory against swimming that was correctly posted on a state website: www.floridashealth.com/beachwater. Heading to the beach this summer? A good idea might be to check the Florida Department of Health Web site to see if there are advisories against swimming because of

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the agency probably will begin releasing more water in June from its dams upstream from Florida along the Chattahoochee River. But Florida officials say that’s not soon enough. Alabama, Florida and Georgia have been fighting in federal court over water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system since 1990. Over

The head of Florida’s land-planning agency said today the state is being kept busy with speculative development proposals because of concerns about a proposed ballot initiative to require voter approval of local land-use plan changes. During a two-hour question-and-answer session broadcast over the Web, Department of Community Affairs Secretary Tom Pelham also fielded concerns about

Stop the presses: Gov. Charlie Crist is not scheduled today to sign SB 360, a controversial bill that which would ease requirements on developers to pay for road improvements in designated “dense” urban counties. Crist has scheduled events across the state today to sign bills that would provide expedited permitting for developments. SB 360 was

President Obama’s proposal today for a new fuel-economy standard probably ends the debate over whether Florida should adopt California’s more stringent standard — if the Florida Legislature hasn’t already killed the issue here. As part of his initiative in 2007 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Gov. Charlie Crist directed the Department of Environmental Protection to

Gov. Charlie Crist (left) visits the Renovalia Energy solar facility in Spain during a European trade mission in 2008. Gov. Charlie Crist this week announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate — raising the obvious question of whether his climate change initiative is now dead for all practical purposes. Crist in 2007 delighted environmentalists when

Environmental groups are calling on Gov. Charlie Crist to veto SB 360, a growth management bill that critics say will weaken state oversight of new development projects. SB 360 lifts those traffic restrictions in designated “dense urban” counties with at least 900,000 people. The bill also removes the largest developments in those counties from a

A Senate bill that supporters say will encourage growth in urban areas contains an “astonishing” provision that could prevent local governments from rezoning residential property, says the chief of Florida’s state land-planning agency. SB 360 allows local governments to waive restrictions on new development in specified “dense urban areas” with traffic congestion. Builders, environmentalists and

Some environmentalists say they’ll miss Charlie Crist, dubbed by some as Florida’s “green governor” who he announced today he’ll run for the U.S. Senate. Environmentalists liked Crist’s environmental credentials when he ran for governor in 2006. But he won their loyalty in 2007 when he signed executive orders calling reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and