everglades

Glades Residents, Businesses, Rise Up Against Water Issues Misinformation

Dan Environment, Water

by Gary Cooper With reference to the growing brouhaha, and continuing conflicting and heated rhetoric and misinformation swirling about south Florida algae and other related Lake Okeechobee water issues, the following letter was sent today to Congressman Brian Mast (R-FL 18th District). Mast has been extremely vocal and incendiary in his rhetoric and stated opinions on these issues, and is …

desantis

DeSantis Offers ‘Bold’ Plan to Address Water Woes

Dan Environment, Florida, Industry News Release, Water

Gov. Ron DeSantis, appearing in areas hit hard by outbreaks of toxic algae and red tide, signed an executive order Thursday expanding state efforts to improve Florida’s troubled waters. And while he took shots from environmentalists on the campaign trail last year when arguing that climate change is not a problem for state government to alleviate, DeSantis said Thursday his …

fda

Desantis Urged to Help Farmers on Trade Deal

Dan Florida, Fruits, Industry News Release, Trade, Vegetables

Incoming Gov. Ron DeSantis is being urged to use his close ties with President Donald Trump to bolster efforts to help Florida farmers fend off low-priced crop imports that weren’t addressed in the rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement. During a conference call last week, several members of DeSantis’ Transition Advisory Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources & …

desantis

Desantis Transition Panel Weighs Water Issues

Dan Environment, Industry News Release, Water

Money set aside annually for the restoration of the Everglades and other waterways should also help end the use of septic tanks, a former House speaker suggested Monday as a panel considered potential environmental policies for Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis. Former Speaker Steve Crisafulli said the incoming governor should tap the “Legacy Florida” funding to aid conversions from septic tanks to …

conservation

Lake Okeechobee Fishermen Set the Record Straight on Algae Facts and Fiction

Dan Environment, Florida

My travels through and around my childhood region of South Florida in recent months allowed me to bore into a few more angles of the algae story. Much of what the public is being told about Lake Okeechobee water and its connection to green algae in coastal waterways is simply not true. The facts remain the facts, and this issue …

Political Event Falls Short on Facts

Dan Environment, Florida

A recent southeast Florida algae rally drew a small crowd. By Gary Cooper U.S. Congressman Brian Mast (R-Palm City) hosted a campaign event in Stuart on Sunday and visited other South Florida areas in recent days. He partnered with anti-farming group BullSugar.org and featured activist Erin Brockovich to help push his recently introduced Stop Harmful Discharges Act in Congress. The …

reservoir

Major Reservoir Project Could Take Years

Dan Florida, Industry News Release, Water

After receiving legislative approval last spring, a massive reservoir intended to help shift water south from Lake Okeechobee remains years away from reality, the head of the South Florida Water Management District said Wednesday. A big factor in the timeline for design and construction of the reservoir is waiting for federal-government approval of its half of the roughly $1.6 billion …

land-grant

Secretaries of Education, Agriculture Call on Governors to Equitably Fund Land-Grant HBCUs

Dan Agri-Business, Education, Funding

(USDA/WASHINGTON, September 18, 2023) — U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack today sent letters to 16 governors emphasizing the over $12 billion disparity in funding between land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their non-HBCU land-grant peers in their states. The 16 governors receiving the letter are: There are HBCU land-grant institutions in …