Environment
Two Florida congressmen fighting against animal cruelty
Two Florida members of Congress want to make it a federal crime to abuse an animal. Boca Raton Democrat Ted Deutch and Sarasota Republican Vern Buchanan are the main sponsors of the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, which was passed by unanimous consent by the U.S. Senate last year. It also had a […]
FL Gov. DeSantis is for smokable pot for sick people; pushes Legislature to quickly fix the medical marijuana law
Saying “We need to have the people’s will represented,” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday pushed the Florida Legislature to quickly fix the state’s medical marijuana law to allow smokable pot for sick people. He also said he’s filing a motion with the First District Court of Appeal, requesting a stay of opinion on a key lawsuit […]
Thanks but no thanks, Rick Scott
On the same night Donald Trump got on national television to spew a pack of nonsense about the border “crisis,” Florida’s ultimate bottom-feeder, Rick Scott, threw a self-congratulatory “Sunshine Ball.” In Washington, D.C. In the middle of a government shut-down. Tickets, appropriately named after credit cards, ranged from $100,000 “Platinum,” down to “Bronze,” though for […]
U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor’s moment
U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor has represented Tampa in the House of Representatives for the past dozen years, but her national profile has suddenly gone up. That’s because she’s the chair of a new key panel about climate change in the newly Democratic-controlled House. “This committee will be critical to the entire Congress’s mission to respond […]
DeSantis issues broad directive on water pollution, but something big is missing
UPDATED to include South Florida Water Management District board resignations Gov. Ron DeSantis got headlines and photo opportunities Thursday for a major executive order he issued on the environment, but it’s missing a key component: preventing pollution at its source before it sparks green slime in the public’s waters. Instead, DeSantis directs his Department of […]
Fl conservationist Manley Fuller leaving state for new job
One of Florida’s best known environmental leaders, Florida Wildlife Federation Executive Director Manley Fuller, is leaving Florida for a new job in North Carolina. Fuller has headed the Florida Widlife Federation for 32 years, and been at the forefront of most every Florida environmental battle to preserve the state’s natural resources, including fighting offshore oil […]
Bipartisan group of Florida Congressional reps reintroduce bill to ban drilling off Florida’s shores
A bipartisan coalition of Florida members of Congress are again pushing legislation that would make permanent the current moratorium on oil drilling off Florida’s shores that is slated to expire in 2022. The moratorium protects waters up to 235 miles off the west coast of Florida from oil drilling and will expire in June 2022 […]
Gov. Ron DeSantis takes the reins
Gov. Ron DeSantis distinguished himself from his predecessor Rick Scott by emphasizing a clean environment in his Tuesday inaugural speech, but the two biggest audience cheers he earned were about traditional conservative hot button issues – immigration and so-called “activist judges.” “We won’t allow sanctuary cities,” he declared, returning to a favorite theme that he […]
Fighting for a future that doesn’t suck
When Florida’s newly elected Governor Ron DeSantis and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried take office tomorrow, one group of young Floridians will be keenly interested. They have a court case against Florida’s governor, the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Public Service Commission (which sets state energy policies […]
Michael Bloomberg gives St. Petersburg $2.5 million to combat climate change
Former New York City mayor and potential 2020 presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg came to St. Petersburg on Thursday to give the city $2.5 million to support efforts to combat climate change. Bloomberg and California Governor Jerry Brown announced in June 2017 that they were launching “America’s Pledge,” an initiative aimed at keeping the greenhouse gas […]
Smoking ban for all Florida beaches?
A state lawmaker wants to ban smoking on Florida beaches statewide. Sarasota House Republican (and soon to be GOP state party chairman) Joe Gruters filed the no-smoking-on-the-beaches legislation for the 2019 legislative session. The draft bill would fine first-time violators $25 or 10 hours of community service. Several cities and counties have passed local laws […]
Where’s Florida? 9 Attorneys General sue to stop massive harming of marine life in Atlantic. But not Florida.
Saying the underwater blasts will needlessly kill and harm marine life, attorneys general in nine states from Maine to North Carolina joined a lawsuit Thursday to stop the Trump administration from allowing offshore oil drilling companies to conduct seismic air gun blasting along the U.S. Atlantic coast. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is notably absent […]