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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…

Deep Dive: Seagrass shows signs of life in the Indian River Lagoon

July 18, 2024

Boy, we could use some good news about Florida’s environment. So here it is: Seagrass appears to be making a comeback — at least for now, at least to a limited degree and at least in some areas — in…

Meet VoteWater’s Gil Smart: “I didn’t come to paradise to watch it be destroyed”

July 11, 2024

Welcome to “Meet VoteWater,” an occasional feature spotlighting the people behind the advocacy. VoteWater Executive Director Gil Smart always wanted to live at the beach. But when the Pennsylvania native moved his family to Martin County during the algae-clogged “Lost…

Another attempt to solve our algae problems with ‘innovative tech’

June 27, 2024

When it comes to solving Florida’s water pollution problems, we’re always looking for the silver bullet, the easy way, the shortcut. And these shortcuts almost always involve “technology.” So we were unsurprised to see a bill filed earlier this month…

“Ghost” candidates? We call bullsugar!

June 27, 2024

It’s election time, and you know what that means: Lots of bullsugar going on. Specifically, we’re getting reports of potential “ghost candidates” popping up around the region, including in Martin County, where long-time commissioner Doug Smith will benefit from a…

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;…

When lobbyists write the legislation, the people get more problems

June 13, 2024

If you missed the latest installment from “Seeking Rents” reporter Jason Garcia on how a big Florida homebuilder effectively wrote a new law to build subdivisions faster and cheaper, check it out here. It’s key to understanding how the “sprawl”…

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…

Toxic algae could overtake Lake O; and that’s good news?

May 16, 2024

It’s toxic algae season — the least wonderful time of the year! At last week’s South Florida Water Management District Governing Board meeting, District Director of Water Resources Lawrence Glenn reported that algae blooms on Lake Okeechobee are beginning to…

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