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Palm Beach Commissioners took sugar money. Then they voted to approve Big Sugar’s rock mine

May 27, 2025

Last week Palm Beach County Commissioners voted to approve the rezoning request for the Southland rock mine on 8,600 acres in the Everglades Agricultural Area owned by U.S. Sugar and Florida Crystals. VoteWater’s Gil Smart (above) was one of more…

VoteWater’s testimony against Southland rock mine

May 27, 2025

Below is the text of VoteWater Executive Director Gil Smart’s comments during the May 22 Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners meeting, where commissioners approved the Southland rock mine rezoning request. Smart will also speak against the rock mine…

The people win. Sneaky government (and developers) lose

May 20, 2025

We were all set to get you riled up about the proposed Guana Preserve land swap. That audacious and obnoxious proposal involved the state trading 600 acres of the state-owned Guana River Wildlife Management Area in northeast Florida to some…

An open letter to Gov. DeSantis: EAA rock mine could destroy your legacy

May 15, 2025

Dear Gov. DeSantis: You’ve been called “America’s Everglades Governor.” Since you took office in 2019, Florida has allocated record funding for Everglades restoration projects. This spending has helped generate significant momentum, spurring progress on key CERP components, including what you’ve…

DEEP DIVE: Could EAA rock mine trigger toxic trouble?

May 7, 2025

Never look a gift horse in the mouth. Promoters are trying to pass off a proposed rock mine in the Everglades Agricultural Area as a gift horse in the form of a sometime-in-the-future environmental project. But this old nag needs…

Now available: VoteWater’s 2024 Annual Report

May 6, 2025

The year 2024 was a big one for VoteWater. We published our landmark Dirty Money Project, helped stop plans to develop Florida’s state parks, fought Lake O discharges, backed clean-water candidates and more. You can read all about our achievements, and…

2025 Florida Legislative session winds down; last-second drama for state parks bill

May 1, 2025

We’re in what was supposed to be the final week of the Florida legislative session, but as of this writing the House and Senate budget proposals were still billions apart. That means the session will either be extended, or legislators…

Here’s how much Dirty Money Big Sugar gave in Q1 2025

April 24, 2025

The state’s campaign finance data for the first quarter of 2025 dropped in recent weeks, and it shows — surprise, surprise — that Big Sugar is still giving big bucks, even in an off-election year. According to the Florida Department…

What’s a lobbyist doing on the SFWMD Governing Board?

April 24, 2025

Last week we raised questions about two new members of the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board, because newbies Thomas Hurley and Robert Spottswood Jr., are both developers. This week we raise concerns about an EXISTING SFWMD board member…

Back to the bad old days with DeSantis picks for SFWMD board

April 16, 2025

When Gov. Ron DeSantis came into office in 2019 one of the first things he did was dismiss the sitting South Florida Water Management District Governing Board and appoint a new slate. No longer was the board dominated by special…

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