Don’t underestimate the importance of Treasure Coast congressman Brian Mast’s pledge to support Sugar Program reform this week. It’s the latest confirmation that clean water politics are forcing lawmakers to confront the sugarcane industry’s impact on Florida. Until now, for…

Florida politics changed this week, quietly but profoundly. Candidates for governor have declared–on the record–whether they will accept donations from the sugarcane industry. That makes sugar money a statewide election issue in 2018, pushing two billionaire families and their sprawling businesses…

The South Florida Water Management District is cracking down on citizens who ask too many questions. The state agency recently threatened legal action against 16 people requesting details on its multi-million-dollar deal with a Martin County mining operation. And when…

Jerry Kustich’s books (including his latest, Holy Water) offer contemplative, insightful meditations on the peace and beauty of fly fishing. But this piece is different. Kustich grew up watching pollution destroy fisheries in his backyard and across the nation, and now…

This legislative session’s anti-clean-water proposals are going to affect your life. Here’s how.   Toilet-to-tap: HB 1149 Not a fan of birth control in your drinking water? Too bad. As populations explode statewide, demand for water supply grows and not…

Last week we made fun of the connection between sewage, politics, and industry in Florida. It’s one way to cope with the cycle we’ve been stuck in, where three institutional forces survive and thrive by literally crapping on the public: Florida’s…

Of all the anti-clean water legislation that Florida’s Gov. Rick Scott can sign into law this week, none tops the “toilet-to-tap” bill allowing treated sewage to be injected into the Biscayne aquifer–Miami-Dade’s water supply. We owe Dr. Seuss an apology for…

This question, swirling around Everglades policy circles all winter, touched off a string of debate-club arguments that left everyone confused and divided. Which is exactly what it was supposed to do. It’s a dishonest question, asked mostly by people who…

Long-time Mosquito Lagoon guide, Billy Rotne recently found himself faced with a choice of moral and financial significance: Continue adding pressure to a system in peril, risking shared responsibility for its fast-increasing decline, or walk away from a cherished location…

Tony Friedrich has a warning for Florida fisherman: No one has your back. Friedrich has spent the better part of his life fighting a mostly uphill battle over the Chesapeake. He has watched a national treasure slowly degrade and coastal…