By BRUCE RITCHIE FLORIDAENVIRONMENTS.COM I wrote a piece on the status of major environmental bills at the midpoint in the legislative session on April 4. But I didn’t get around to posting it. And that’s OK, because most of it had changed just seven days later. 1. SPRINGS LEGISLATION Sen. Charlie Dean said on April […]
Bills are dying — is springs legislation next? Read More »
Our car recently passed the 10,000-mile mark. That’s usually not a big deal. But with our car, it may hold a lesson about when to invest in the latest green technology. Our car is the all-electric 2012 Nissan LEAF, which we leased in August 2012 with the intent of buying when the 40-month lease expired.
The lesson learned from 10,000 miles in an all-electric Nissan LEAF Read More »
By BRUCE RITCHIE Just how permanent is “perpetual” — when it comes to conservation easements? Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in November touted the benefits of those landowner agreements not to develop as the Cabinet approved a deal to preserve 1,364 acres of a sod farm and cattle ranch in Polk County. The benefits, Putnam said,
Just how permanent are those conservation easements? Read More »
BY BRUCE RITCHIE Anyone interested in the environment couldn’t be blamed for skipping Tuesday’s opening session of the Legislature. But the week ended with a bang. Gov. Rick Scott’s “state of the state” speech on Tuesday contained no reference to the environment, energy or growth management. (See “Scott sounds re-election themes as 2013 session opens,”
Florida’s Legislature’s 2013 session starts slow, gains steam Read More »
By Bruce Ritchie FloridaEnvironments.com Cynthia Barnett, author of “Mirage” and “Blue Revolution”, is coming to Tallahassee on Feb. 28 to give a presentation on developing a water ethic. When she said she wanted me to help let people know, I couldn’t refuse. She has been my friend for more than 24 years and she introduced
Author, friend who promotes ‘water ethic’ to speak in Tallahassee Read More »
By BRUCE RITCHIE My return journey home last week began in a jet taking off over a West Texas landscape of brown cotton fields under circles of pivot irrigation. It ended with a 20-mile-long descent over the tall pines and cypress trees in the Apalachicola National Forest — and a feeling of relief. Relief at
Issues in West Texas follow journalist back to Florida Read More »
Two Florida photographers, John Moran and Alan Youngblood, say they have seen the harm being done to Florida’s springs — and it is real. The rest of us can’t wait any longer to see for ourselves and decide whether to speak out. Moran, a former Gainesville Sun photographer, spoke on June 23 at a workshop
See for yourself what’s happening to Florida springs — now Read More »
There was another Supreme Court ruling this week that was important to a few million people, if not the world. Besides deciding on the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court announced Monday it was not taking up an appeals court decision on the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system, according to The Florida Current. Alabama, Florida and Georgia
Supreme Court decision affects Apalachicola River and Gulf of Mexico Read More »
By BRUCE RITCHIE Floridaenvironments.com Biologist Joe Guthrie sounds like he’s being too hard on himself for not taking more notes or recording data on his recent 1,000-mile trek with the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition. Guthrie and photographer Carlton Ward Jr., conservationist Mallory Lykes Dimmett and documentary filmmaker Elam Stoltzfus finished their journey April 22 in
Wildlife expedition holds scientific value even if biologist has regrets Read More »
By BRUCE RITCHIE A team of conservationists on a 1,000-mile expedition across Florida was joined by two Cabinet officials last week just past midway on their trek. Photographer Carlton Ward Jr., biologist Joe Guthrie and filmmaker Elam Stoltzfus began their journey on Jan. 9 from Florida Bay at the tip of Everglades National Park. They
Cabinet members join group on expedition across Florida Read More »
