Big Sugar
Florida’s powerful sugar industry spends millions to buy influence in the halls of power. Today begins a new campaign to make that money toxic. In conjunction with a broad array of environmental groups, companies and political leaders on both the…
It looked like there was a real wedge between the two most powerful Republicans in Florida – Gov. Ron DeSantis and current Senate President Wilton Simpson, who’s running for state Agriculture Commissioner. But they’ve kissed and made up. And that…
Call this a master class in how politics really works in Florida. And yet another reason we should all Vote Water. On Substack, Jason Garcia’s “Seeking Rents” takes a look at “Associated Industries of Florida,” a lobbying group whose name…
Toxic blue-green algae on Lake Okeechobee isn’t just a problem for the lake, or for the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee when those estuaries are being blasted with discharges from the lake full of cyanobacteria. Increasingly, as this article in the…
Wilton Simpson has more clout than virtually any other elected official in Florida. And Big Sugar has greased the skids in his ascent to power. Simpson, often referred to as “a Trilby egg farmer” (in truth he runs a multi-million…
When the bigwigs in Tallahassee are committed to corporate privilege over clean water, you get what we’ve got – a long crisis that can only get worse. Case in point: Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson, who is running for Agriculture…
They blinked. The night before a profoundly damaging bill for the Everglades and Florida’s environment in general was slated to go before the state Senate, word came: There was an amendment. And many of the worst provisions in Senate Bill…
The Florida Senate is in session today and will be addressing Senate Bill 2508, a controversial measure which originally proposed far-reaching changes to Everglades restoration measures which would have undermined the LOSOM process and could have had a major impact…
TCPalm outdoor columnist Ed Killer has penned a dead-on piece lambasting the Florida senators who voted in favor of notorious Senate Bill 2508 as being little but shills for Big Sugar, and determined to advance the industry’s priorities over clean…
In a blockbuster Feb. 3 story, the Palm Beach Post and ProPublica laid out exactly how the sugar industry manages to capture local politicians, and indeed local communities, which then helps them stave off change at the state level –…