Many of you
have seen the slime – the toxic and nuisance algae - that plagues
Florida’s lakes,
rivers, bays and springs. It’s an ugly
picture – click here to view our Slime Crime Tracker Map.
To protect our quality of life, public health, waterfront
economies, and the wildlife that depends on clean water, the Florida Slime Crimes campaign
has been pushing hard to stop the fertilizer, sewage and manure pollution that
feeds the slime.
Thousands of concerned citizens like you have signed our
petition calling on President Obama and the EPA to protect our water and
enforce strong pollution limits. Our volunteers from around the state have been
hitting the streets with clipboards with the goal of flooding President Obama’s
office with letters demanding action to clean up this slimy mess.
We’re fast approaching decision time
on this important issue! President
Obama and the EPA will soon be making their determination on whether to enforce
strong, quantitative limits for pollution in Florida’s waters or to settle for
the weaker standards that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection
has proposed. It is up to us to make sure
the EPA does its job and protects our waters!
This Earth
Day Sierra Club groups from across Florida came together to collect thousands
of signatures in support of the EPA’s Numeric Nutrient Criteria in just one
weekend!
Special
thanks to…
- The Central Florida group who collected a record-breaking 400 petition signatures at Earth Day in downtown Orlando!
- The Suwanee St. John’s group for using a great model of land and roads to educate folks on how quickly pollution can run off roads and land and into our waterways fueling these “Slime Crimes”
- The Loxahatchee group who, despite having their Earth Day rained out, continued to collect signatures in their local neighborhoods!
- Volunteers in Southwest Florida who attended three different Earth Day events and collected almost 500 petition signatures in two weeks despite the rainy weather!
Thanks to supporters
like you, we are VERY close to our signature goal! But it doesn’t stop here! We need your help to keep the pressure on and
pass our goal! Here’s how you can help…
It’s super
easy. E-mail President Obama right now
by following this link. And don’t forget to forward the link to your
friends! The EPA is going to release their decision soon and we need them to
hear from as many of us as possible! Help us spread the world by e-mail,
Facebook and Twitter!
Here’s the online link
to write President Obama: http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=226242.0
If you are
interested in helping with this final push to collect petitions in your area
please e-mail katie.parrish@sierraclub.org and we can set you up with all the
materials you need to get started!
P.S. - Don’t
forget to like our new “Florida Slime Crimes” Facebook page where you can keep up to date on
campaign news, events and pictures of slime! (https://www.facebook.com/FloridaSlimeCrimes)