Big Sugar
Executive Director Gil Smart gives a preview of what we’re discovering with our “Dirty Money” research – elected officials from both parties have taken plenty of money from Big Sugar and other polluters, there’s no partisan divide on this issue.…
As a VoteWater supporter, you’ve long known that dirty money = dirty water. Campaign cash from polluting industries buys influence in Tallahassee, Washington, D.C., even your local county commission chambers. This results in laws that protect polluters and prevent progress…
Update: Sen. Albritton got even MORE sugar money than we realized! Below, we report on a $25,000 contribution from U.S. Sugar to Florida Sen. Ben Albritton’s campaign committee, Friends of Ben Albritton. The report is true and correct. But the…
The “Gray Lady” has noticed the blue-green gunk on Lake Okeechobee. The world may soon notice, too. On its website last weekend — and on the front page of the print edition Monday, July 10 — the New York Times…
One of the most passionate clean-water advocates in South Florida just got kicked to the curb. As we detailed last week, Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch had been a member of the South Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board since 2019. The Sewall’s…
Here’s a case study of how politics pollutes Florida’s waters: Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch is a Sewall’s Point Realtor, long-time Treasure Coast clean water advocate and, since 2019, a member of the South Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board. Few people in…
The 2024 election cycle may seem a long way off. But Big Sugar’s already started to “invest” in compliant politicians and shady political action committees. State campaign finance records show that in the first quarter of 2023, the sugar industry’s…
If the federal government treated you the way it treats Big Sugar — life would be sweet indeed. Federal policy in the form of the Sugar Program — part of the Farm Bill, which is reauthorized every five or so…
Remember when we told you last week about the Dominican sugarcane operation — partly owned by the Florida-based Fanjul brothers — facing an federal import ban and allegations of forced labor? Similar allegations have dogged the company for years; the…
When the U.S. government last week banned sugar imports from a top Dominican producer owned in part by the Florida-based Fanjul brothers, the company could have shown a little contrition. After all, an investigation by the U.S. Customs and Border…