fbpx

Big Sugar

DeSantis-legislative feud: They’re ALL too cozy with Big Ag!

February 6, 2025

We’re watching the Ron DeSantis-Legislative feud with a truckload of popcorn. The proximate cause of the recent nastiness is immigration legislation, the fact DeSantis called the Legislature up to Tallahassee on what was supposed to be a week off, the…

Dubious EAA ‘water resource project’ (rock mine) lurches ahead

January 23, 2025

Hey, remember that proposal to build a rock mine… er, “water resource project” — in the Everglades Agricultural Area? Sure you do. Phillips & Jordan, the prime contractor for several massive reservoir projects in the region, is pitching (unsolicited) plans…

VoteWater endorses Brian Mast for Congress

October 16, 2024

VoteWater, a South Florida clean-water advocacy group, has endorsed U.S. Rep. Brian Mast for Congress. Mast, a Republican seeking his fifth term in Congress, has been endorsed repeatedly by VoteWater and its predecessor, Bullsugar.org, since he first ran in 2016.…

Who’s getting Big Sugar money this election cycle? Here’s the list

July 25, 2024

**UPDATED** We goofed! There’s even more Big Sugar campaign cash out there than we thought! Due to a glitch in the search process, we underreported — by more than $1 million! — the amount of money given by Florida Crystals…

Big Sugar gives big bucks to Rick Scott

June 20, 2024

“Red Tide Rick” Scott was no friend to the clean-water cause as Florida’s governor. Then he moved on to the U.S. Senate by barely beating incumbent Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson in 2018. Now he’s in a tight race for re-election;…

These ‘Polluter PACs’ got (and gave) the most ‘dirty money’

May 29, 2024

VoteWater’s Dirty Money Project, announced last summer, is aiming to publish our research — including a searchable database so you can see how much money from polluting special interests your local politicians are taking — in time for Florida’s August…

Deep Dive: As STA costs go up, Big Sugar’s share of the bill goes down

May 22, 2024

In our last “Deep Dive,” we noted how the stormwater treatment areas (STAs) — 62,000-acres of man-made wetlands south of Lake Okeechobee designed to clean water headed to the Everglades — could be used to help mitigate harmful Lake O…

We need more STA capacity to clean and store water, period

April 27, 2024

In recent weeks we and our friends at Friends of the Everglades have been highlighting the need to fix Florida’s “rigged” system of water management which favors Big Sugar over all other stakeholders. Part of that has been our campaign…

Is our discharge crisis over?

April 11, 2024

We may need to retire our “discharges ticker.” For the moment, anyway. Last week the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that once the two-week “pause” in discharges to the St. Lucie, Caloosahatchee and Lake Worth Lagoon ended April 13, the…

Deep Dive: If the STAs were reserved for lake water, Lake O might be below 13 feet now

April 4, 2024

As billions of gallons of polluted water poured out of Lake Okeechobee and into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee River estuaries and Lake Worth Lagoon, a familiar question kept being raised: Why isn’t that water going south? And a familiar…

Archives