skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, March 18, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

"Big Sugar" Getting a Sweet Deal from Florida Lawmakers?

play audio
Play

Tuesday, March 31, 2015   

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - With the passage of Amendment One in the November election, Florida now has the funds to protect the Everglades and the state's water supply. But now, state lawmakers appear to be losing their resolve to purchase land the sugar industry agreed to sell in 2010.

Progress Florida is circulating a petition asking lawmakers to buy the critical land. Damien Filer, political director with Progress Florida, says it's time the sugar industry and the state make good on their commitment to protect water quality.

"This was a great thing for press releases for the sugar industry, but now that voters have said, 'Yeah, this is exactly how we want our money spent,' this issue has gotten mired up in the legislative process," says Filer. "At this point, sugar is actively lobbying to kill this deal."

The contract between the U.S. Sugar Corporation and the state to buy the land expires in October. By purchasing the land, Filer says the state could build a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to contain polluted waters generated by the sugar industry, and keep them from flowing into the Everglades.

Attempts to reach the Florida Sugar Cane League and U.S. Sugar Corporation were made for this story. Neither responded with comment.

According to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Everglades have shrunk to less than half of their original size, a process the NRDC says has been accelerated by the sugar industry. Filer says maintaining the Everglades' health is key to the health of Florida's economy, people and wildlife.

"There are two critical issues at stake here," says Filer. "One is the Everglades are a national treasure and we have a responsibility to do everything we can to protect it. The other is about one in three of us gets our drinking water directly from the Everglades. So there's both practical and other reasons to make sure we do everything we can to get this right."

The Everglades are the largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the lower 48 states, and are home to 56 endangered or threatened species. The region also draws 1.6 million annual visitors.

So far, Filer says more than 5,500 people have signed the Progress Florida petition.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)

play sound

By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Missouri News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Col…


Social Issues

play sound

A new report brands Connecticut's tax system as "regressive" for low- to middle-income residents and uses a report from the state to make its point…

Environment

play sound

Backers of a new federal rule said it will increase fairness for livestock and poultry producers, in North Carolina and across the country. The U.S…


A study by the advocacy group Inseparable showed one in five adults said at any given time, they consider their mental health to be either 'fair' or 'poor.' (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Mental health care advocates are encouraging federal agencies to adopt a proposed update to regulations which would expand access to psychological car…

Social Issues

play sound

With hotter summers bringing hotter working conditions, the Maryland Department of Labor is implementing a heat stress standard to protect workers …

Social Issues

play sound

By Jimmy Cloutier for OpenSecrets.Broadcast version by Roz Brown for Texas News Service reporting for the OpenSecrets-Public News Service Collaboratio…

Environment

play sound

Recreational fishermen in New England say commercial trawlers are threatening the survival of smaller businesses relying on a healthy stock of Atlanti…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021