Environment
Expanding this Florida airstrip development is plane crazy
Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a bunch of planes! And a helicopter too! And the noise is making all the horses go bonkers! This is what life is like for the people who own farms around the Marion County community of Jumbolair Aviation and Equestrian Estates. Jumbolair, near […]
Ahead of climate conference, U.S. House panel tussles over curbs on emissions
Republicans on a U.S. House panel argued Wednesday against aggressive moves to meet carbon reduction goals, saying U.S. fossil fuel companies are working to make their products cleaner. Democrats on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Minerals countered that to achieve further reductions, federal policies should be continued […]
More states are banning plastic bags. Florida is not among them
Starting in January, most stores in Colorado won’t be allowed to provide single-use plastic carryout bags to customers without charging them a fee. Polystyrene containers, also known as Styrofoam, also will be banned at restaurants and wherever prepackaged, package foods are sold. Rhode Island’s ban on plastic bags also will launch Jan. 1, making them the […]
A year after devastating winter storm, power plant problems ‘still likely’ in extreme weather
Nearly a year ago, a Christmas weekend storm blasted across the country, forcing utilities to cut electricity to hundreds of thousands of people in parts of the southeastern U.S. after temperatures plunged, demand spiked, large numbers of power plants failed, and natural gas supply was strained. As the anniversary approaches of Winter Storm Elliott, a pair […]
FL lawmakers love developers so much, they want to put us at risk of being killed by hurricanes
When people talk about the great love stories of history, they often mention such figures as Marc Anthony and Cleopatra, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (not in a can), and Johnny and June Carter Cash, who got married in a fever hotter than a pepper sprout. But this roll call of romance leaves out one […]
Democrats’ struggle to keep U.S. Senate majority complicated by Manchin decision
WASHINGTON — U.S. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III announced Thursday he does not plan to run for reelection come 2024, giving Republicans an opportunity to pick up a seat and increasing their chances of flipping Senate control. A centrist who has long frustrated his party’s leadership and outside advocacy groups with his views on fossil fuel production, […]
Jeff Bezos, welcome back to a very different Florida from the one you left
Dear Mr. Bezos, Congratulations! After three decades in gloomy Seattle, you’re finally — as the elaborately coiffed Wayne Cochran used to sing — going back to Miami. You’ll be the world’s richest Florida Man. Hope you have an appropriate tattoo. Do you already own a machete? I hear you can now buy them at a […]
FL farmers hurt by Hurricane Idalia will get relief in $416 million bill approved by Legislature
The Florida Legislature unanimously approved a measure to provide grants and tax breaks to North Florida businesses and residents impacted by Hurricane Idalia in late August. The provisions will give a boost to farmers in the Big Bend area where the storm made landfall and help all Floridians to make their homes more resilient for […]
FL House unanimously approves grants, tax breaks for Hurricane Idalia relief
The Florida House of Representatives unanimously approved a measure on Tuesday aimed at giving grants and tax breaks to North Florida businesses and residents impacted by Hurricane Idalia, as well as beefing up funding for Floridians to make their homes more resilient for future storms. The vote was 110-0. The measure will go before the […]
FL farmers came to the state capital to get relief from Idalia’s destruction; lawmakers are helping
Timothy Solano is a second-generation clam farmer from Cedar Key who said that before Hurricane Idalia hit North Florida last August, his company was on track to break $50 million in sales this year. But not anymore. “When Hurricane Idalia barreled through our town, it changed our lives forever,” Solano told the House Appropriations Committee […]
U.S. House GOP in spending bills takes aim at federal LGBTQ, racial equity policies
U.S. House Republicans are continuing to use government spending bills to engage in culture war battles, with legislation debated during the past week that would ban pride flags on some federal buildings, strip funding from a new museum for Latino history and target certain LGBTQ and racial equity policies and programs. The hot-button provisions in […]
FL’s excessive heat: Miami-Dade could be first in heat-related protections for outdoor workers
South Florida’s Miami-Dade County could be the only local government in the nation to provide heat-related protections for outdoor workers in the construction and agriculture industries, though advocates claim the proposal has been watered down due to lobbying by business interests. The proposal — a heat standard ordinance for outdoor workers in Miami-Dade County — […]