Florida Crystals

Guess who helped fund White House East Wing ‘remodeling?’

October 30, 2025

President Donald Trump’s decision to tear down the White House’s East Wing and build a huge ballroom has been hugely controversial; but in fact the President had some help in the form of donors contributing to the cause. And take…

ROCK MINE UPDATE: DeSantis vows Southland project won’t hurt EAA reservoir

October 23, 2025

Gov. Ron DeSantis was in Martin County Tuesday to talk about python hunting, but briefly addressed the proposed Southland “Water Resource Project” (rock mine) in response to a reporter’s question. “Our Department of Environmental Protection is not going to allow…

Dirty Money: Big Sugar campaign cash nears $2.5 million in 2025

October 16, 2025

Statewide elections are still a year away — but Florida’s sugar industry continues to spend like there’s no tomorrow. The latest state campaign finance data shows that Big Sugar has given at least $2.48 million in “dirty money” — political…

Big Sugar spent more than $600k on state lobbying in Q2

September 5, 2025

Big Sugar continues to spend big on lobbying, according to state data. In the second quarter of 2025, the industry reported that at least 55 individual lobbyists from 25 different firms were registered to lobby on their behalf. Those lobbyists collected…

HUGE questions about Southland rock mine at SFWMD meeting

June 6, 2025

The Southland rock mine proposal, on 8,600 acres of Palm Beach County farmland owned by US Sugar and Okeelanta Corp. (Florida Crystals), has been sailing through the county and state approval process. But at the South Florida Water Management District…

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…

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…

SUGAR SUED: Florida Crystals target of class-action suit claiming company misleads on climate change

March 26, 2025

A California woman has filed a class-action lawsuit against Florida Crystals, claiming the company’s practice of sugarcane burning contradicts claims that its farming practices fight climate change. As the Palm Beach Post reports, “The lawsuit, filed on behalf of California…

HEY DOGE, wanna cut waste? Kill the Sugar Program

March 6, 2025

As you’ve no doubt seen, the Department of Government Efficiency has been swinging the budgetary ax, cutting a wide swath in its quest to eliminate “waste.” So we have a suggestion for Elon Musk and his crew: Kill the Sugar…

PAC attack: U.S. Sugar, Florida Crystals gave more than $26 million to PACs since 2018

March 27, 2024

“Dirty money” to dirty politicians means dirty water. But what happens when the “dirty money” — campaign cash from polluters — goes instead to PACs, political action committees? As part of our “Dirty Money Project” we wanted to find out;…

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