Environment
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 — […]
Florida fails to ask for federal funds to help poor people buy solar panels
Did you hear the circus is back? The Ellenton-based impresarios at Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey have returned to the road with a retooled Greatest Show on Earth. They’re bringing back most of their colorful acts — the trapeze performers, the tightrope walkers, the human cannonballs. But the revived show lacks both animals and one […]
Biden launches ‘Investing in Rural America’ push with Cabinet officials
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and administration officials are kicking off an “Investing in Rural America” event series, starting with a visit to a Minnesota farm Wednesday to announce nearly $5 billion for conservation, economic development and “climate smart” agriculture. Biden, who is running for reelection in 2024, has been highlighting what the administration calls […]
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Simpson calls food supply a ‘national security issue’
Barren grocery shelves. Chaos on the streets. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson on Monday launched into discourse about food supplies, national security and the potential of “people starving in this country.” His remarks came during a press conference in Citrus County on the Gulf Coast on funding for Hurricane Idalia recovery. First Lady Casey DeSantis […]
These days, it’s FL developers who are sneaking in and swiping natural resources from the public
I was up in the Florida Panhandle to visit family last week, so I made sure to drive through Santa Rosa County a time or two. I can always tell when I am in Santa Rosa County because it’s the place where developers are doing their dead-level best to cut down every single tree. They’ve […]
Time for feds to admit they screwed up classifying Florida’s manatees as less than endangered
We may call ourselves “the Sunshine State,” but Halloween offers a reminder that Florida holds a lot of darkness, too. You’d shriek with terror — er, I mean surprise! — at how many horror flicks have been filmed here. The list includes the campy ecological creepshow “Frogs,” the South-rises-again gorefest “Two Thousand Maniacs!” and, of […]
‘So many ways hydrogen can go wrong’: Hub announcements viewed with caution
The Friday announcement that seven projects had been selected to receive $7 billion in seed money to kickstart the production of clean hydrogen across the country was billed by President Joe Biden’s administration as a major step toward slashing carbon emissions, creating thousands of domestic jobs and positioning the U.S. as a clean energy leader. “I’m here […]
Florida storm season quiet since Idalia
It’s been more than a month since Hurricane Idalia made her landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region, eventually mowing through Georgia and South Carolina before dissipating on Sept. 8. While the state and local governments focus on clean-up and recovery, there is the possibility that Florida could contend with another storm between now and Nov. […]
Big federal dollars for small state projects aim to get more cars off the roads
A 60-mile pedestrian and cycling trail in Arkansas, an electric street sweeper in Oregon and truck parking facilities in Florida don’t appear to have much in common — let alone any similarity with a conversion of California highways to toll roads or a roundabout in Michigan. But all of the projects will be paid for by the Carbon Reduction Program, a five-year, $6.4 billion […]
Biden administration to send $7 billion for clean hydrogen hubs in 16 states
The Biden administration is directing $7 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure law to build seven regional hydrogen power hubs in 16 states, the White House announced Friday. The projects, each of which is a cluster of assets that produce and process hydrogen fuel as an alternative to fossil fuels, will benefit the climate, the economy […]
U.S Department of Agriculture report projects rebound after record-low orange production in FL
No crop is perhaps more emblematic of the Sunshine State than the mighty orange, which makes it an emotional injury as well as an economic one that the Florida staple has seen a decades-long slip in production. After last year’s historically low yield, a Thursday report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture projected that production […]
Preserving ‘Heart of the Everglades’ sparks fuss over access by Florida airboat operators
Have you ever ridden on an airboat? I have, several times. I think it’s one of those quintessential Florida experiences, like acquiring your first machete, confronting your first flying cockroach, or rolling your eyes for the first time at the Legislature’s shenanigans. Airboats are the fastest way to zoom across the vast and watery expanse […]