Articles by: Gil Smart
On Friday Florida DEP confirmed that the algal bloom in Lake Okeechobee off Clewiston tested positive for microcystin. The algae is toxic. The news went largely unreported. The concentration of toxins in the sample was relatively low at 1.4 ppb,…
Gil Smart was right: the pictures from Saturday’s rally on the Roosevelt Bridge could have been from any number of toxic algae summers on the St. Lucie. Same frustrations. Same fears. With giant toxic algae blooms on Lake Okeechobee two…
This week a Florida lawmaker asked a government agency not to poison his constituents. This shouldn’t be news. It shouldn’t be unusual. But it is, and Eye On Miami explains why… Congressman Brian Mast Ventures Where Few Have Gone Before To…
Few politicians have done more than Putnam to loot and pollute the State of Florida. From steering tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to his family’s businesses–and hundreds of millions to the sugarcane companies backing his run for governor–to gutting…
Finding a scapegoat to take the rap for a crisis is nothing new, but it takes moxie to throw God under the bus. Florida’s sugarcane industry makes it look easy. Lake Okeechobee is filling up fast. Discharges to the estuaries start…
The Right to Pollute is worth billions, especially the right to pollute a national park. That means there’s money to be made defending that right. Champions of pollution build careers and fortunes helping private industry destroy public places, and few…
Welcome to the sugar policy awakening of 2018! Today’s vote in the House means more than just refining an old government program. Not long ago few people paid attention to this giveaway tucked inside the Farm Bill. Today, with a…
The Alliance for Fair Sugar Policy is calling out sugar production in Florida for its role in polluting the greater Everglades ecosystem, costing taxpayers millions of dollars in restoration efforts.
Tony Friedrich never wanted to be an expert on how nutrient pollution strangles an estuary. But he never had a choice, either. He’s been studying the Chesapeake as long as he can remember, watching dead zones spread through one of…
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…
