BE THERE: Resources for Roads to Ruin (M-CORES) task force meetings on 10/22, 23, and 30

Once again, we are mobilizing for the M-CORES (roads to ruin) Task Force meetings.  This time there are three separate meetings on three separate days:

October 22, 2019

Northern Turnpike Task Force Meeting

College of Central Florida Citrus Learning and Conference Center
3800 S Lecanto Hwy, Lecanto, FL 34461 (Citrus County)

Begins at 10 a.m. 

Public comment starts at 4:30 pm

Agenda

October 23, 2019
Suncoast Connector Task Force Meeting 

College of Central Florida Citrus Learning and Conference Center
3800 S Lecanto Highway, Lecanto, FL 34461
Begins at 10 a.m. 

Public comment starts at 4:30 pm
Agenda

October 30, 2019
Southwest-Central Connector Task Force Meeting 

Polk State College - Lakeland Campus
3425 Winter Lake Road, Lakeland, FL 33803

Begins at 10 a.m. 

Public comment starts at 4:30 pm
Agenda  

   

NO ROADS TO RUIN RESOURCES:

1.    New talking points:  M-CORES = Big Sham, Big Bucks, Big Questions

2.    Fact sheet from August 27

3.    To make a visual statement, we will have red “sham” and green “no roads to ruin” cards for you to hold up during the meeting.  When a speaker opposes the plan we will raise the green cards and when a speaker promotes the plan we will raise the red cards.  In this way we can be “heard” throughout the day.

4.    No roads to ruin stickers.

Please find a coalition partner at the meeting to get your cards, talking points, stickers and fact sheets.

Earlier this year, the state passed legislation to fast-track three major new toll roads that will destroy large swaths of Florida’s last remaining rural lands, pollute waterways, and threaten endangered wildlife, including the iconic Florida panther.

Now we fight back.  Because once we pave over these wild places, there are no do overs.

WANT EVEN MORE INFO?

Check out the M-CORES presentation made to the Transportation & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee Wednesday, October 16, 2019  

Finally, you may have noticed we didn’t mention the open houses that are also scheduled after each task force meeting.  We didn’t mention them because they don’t serve our purposes.  Our opposition needs to be seen and heard by the task force members and we need to see and hear them.  The open houses may give FDOT the ability to claim more "stakeholder involvement" but open house attendees will be all but invisible to the task force members.  If you are going to come out to one M-CORES event this month, please make it a task force meeting and not an open house.

Many regards on behalf of the whole NRTR Steering Committee,

Cris

Cris Costello

Organizing Manager

Sierra Club

2127 S. Tamiami Trail

Osprey, FL 34229

941-914-0421

cris.costello@sierraclub.org

Lindsay Cross

Government Relations Director

Florida Conservation Voters (FCV)

lindsay@fcvoters.org

727-642-1563

Mark Ferrulo

Executive Director

Progress Florida

mark@progressflorida.org  

727-289-2612 office

Sarah Gledhill

Senior Florida Field Campaigner

Center for Biological Diversity (CBD)

SGledhill@biologicaldiversity.org  

904-347-6490

Anne Michelle Harvey

Staff Attorney

Save the Manatee Club

500 N. Maitland Ave.

Maitland, FL 32751

Office: 407-539-0990

e-mail: aharvey@savethemanatee.org  

Ryan Smart

Florida Springs Council

P.O. Box 268

High Springs, FL 32655

smart@floridaspringscouncil.org  

Julianne Thomas

Conservancy of Southwest Florida

1495 Smith Preserve Way

Naples, FL  34102

juliannet@conservancy.org

  

Miami-Dade County Accelerates Climate Progress with Largest Electric Bus Order on the East Coast

Last week, Miami-Dade County Commissioners unanimously approved the purchase of 33 battery-electric, zero emission buses from the manufacturer Proterra, the largest purchase of zero emission buses in the the East Coast.This is the first substantial step made towards achieving the County’s commitment to a 50% battery-electric, zero emission fleet by 2035 since the commitment was made exactly one year prior and is the result of tireless advocacy from environmental and transit advocates.

“Florida is one of the most vulnerable areas in the country to climate change, and Miami is working tirelessly to lower its greenhouse gas emissions,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez. “Deploying battery-electric buses is one of the best actions we can take to improve our environment and our community’s public health. We are looking forward to working with Proterra to deliver clean, quiet transportation to Miami-Dade.” Special thanks to Mayor Giménez, Commissioner Levine-Cava, and Commissioner Suarez for their work over the last several years to make this purchase a reality, and thank you to all the County Commissioners for their unanimous vote.

Advocates at Miami-Dade County Commission 10/3/19. 

Sierra Club volunteers joined with Transit Alliance Miami, Miami Climate Alliance, and CATALYST Miami members in calling for the approval of the purchase and a critical shift to an all electric fleet. Sierra Club advocates have been asking Miami-Dade County Commissioners to transition to an all electric fleets for years and were thrilled that Commissioners allocated more than 70 million dollars to fund up to 75 battery-electric buses should the Transit Department choose to order more.

“This is a technology that over the last several years seems to have evolved...We want to get our feet wet with zero emission,” said Transit Director Alice Bravo.  Over the lifetime of a zero emission bus, transit agencies in Florida save between 70 and 79% in maintenance and repair costs compared to a bus fueled by Compressed Natural Gas, known as “CNG” or fracked gas. The total cost of ownership of a zero emission bus is also $700,000 less than the total cost of a diesel-hybrid bus. Miami-Dade County’s fleet is over 800 buses, primarily made up of CNG and diesel-hybrid buses.  Each of the zero emission buses will save Miami-Dade County between $150,000 and $200,000 over their lifetime in fuel, maintenance and repair costs.

As the 13th largest fleet in the nation, Miami-Dade County’s transition to an electric fleet has been part of a broader shift in the industry. “The technology is here, countless U.S. cities have moved to electric fleets, the cost savings and health benefits are significant, and these are absolutely critical as we move to position our County and region as a global leader within the emerging multi-billion dollar resilience economy. Now’s the time," said David McDougal of the Miami Climate Alliance. Although more than five transit agencies in Florida have made commitments to purchase over 400 zero emission buses collectively, only six zero emission buses currently operate in the Sunshine State. Directly to the north of Miami-Dade, Broward County committed last December to achieve a 100% electric fleet by 2030 and has ordered 15 buses to arrive immediately.

The replacement of diesel buses on the road has massive climate and public health benefits, eliminating 1,690 tons of carbon dioxide, 10 tons of nitrogen oxides, and 350 pounds of diesel particulate matter from being emitted. Cleaning up public transportation is an environmental justice issue. Zelalem Adefris, Resilience Director at CATALYST Miami urged Commissioners to take into account which communities and demographics are most vulnerable to air pollution when deploying the buses. “I want to emphasize that when we do get these buses hopefully the locations of the routes will be determined by the disproportionate asthma risk among youth throughout the county who really need cleaner air first in their neighborhoods, because we do have disproportionate access to clean air throughout the County,” she said to County Commissioners.

In addition to reducing air pollution, zero emission buses also reduce the emission of climate-disrupting greenhouse gases. The source of the electricity used to charge zero emission buses is the most important factor in determining their carbon footprint as there are no greenhouse gases or pollutants emitted from driving battery-electric buses, hence the term “zero emission.”

Advocates demand a 50% electric fleet on 10/3/18.

Even with a dirty fuel mix generating Florida’s electricity, choosing battery-electric buses reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Compared to a bus fueled by fracked gas, a battery-electric bus that draws electricity from the grid will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65% over its lifetime. And going all electric matters; compared to a diesel-electric hybrid bus, a battery-electric bus will reduce emissions by 50% over the lifetime of the bus, a percentage that will increase over the service life of the bus as Florida Power & Light increases the percentage of solar power in its portfolio.

In a nutshell, every bus in the Miami-Dade County fleet that is replaced by an electric bus reduces transit emissions by 50% or more, and transit costs by $150,000 or more, compared to the vehicle it is replacing. If the County chooses to add off-grid solar to charge their buses, a full fleet of electric buses could completely eliminate Miami-Dade County government’s transportation emissions.

Nora Viñas speaks to Commissioners 10/3/19.

In addition to a cleaner transit system, the shift towards electric buses also marks an important milestone in the development of a more effective system.“As we embark on the first comprehensive bus redesign in the past 30 years, it is important that we continually invest in the renewal of our fleet and meet the highest standard...electric buses,” said Nora Viñas on behalf of Transit Alliance Miami. “Frequent and reliable transportation has the potential to unlock opportunities for our residents all over the county. The purchase of the electric bus fleet has the potential to build ridership on buses that are efficient for our environment. The Better Bus project is part of the Resilient 305 initiative and as part of that strategy our goal is to advocate for a bus redesign that supports our County’s commitment to a 50% zero emission, battery-electric fleet.”

The Better Bus Project is a grassroots initiative to redesign the Miami-Dade bus system for greater efficiency, access and equity. Born from a massive data collection and research effort, the Better Bus Project has brought together world-class transit system designers, county officials and thousands of residents to create a better bus system. You can support electric transit for all of Miami-Dade County by joining Sierra Club, Transit Alliance Miami, Miami Climate Alliance and others on the Better Bus Project. Residents and stakeholders; please take the concept survey here before November 1st and follow Transit Alliance Miami, Miami Climate Alliance and Sierra Club Miami Group social media handles to stay up to date!

Public Safety Comes First? Changes to Pre-Harvest Sugar Field Burning Fall Short

For Immediate Release:

October 1, 2019

Contacts:  Patrick Ferguson, 954-288-4234, patrick.ferguson@sierraclub.org 

Cris Costello, 941-914-0421, cris.costello@sierraclub.org 

**PRESS RELEASE**

Public Safety Comes First?

Changes to Pre-Harvest Sugar Field Burning Fall Short

Belle Glade – In response to Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried’s announcement of changes to the pre-harvest sugar field burning protocols, Patrick Ferguson, Organizing Representative for the Sierra Club Stop Pre-harvest Sugar Field Burning Campaign provides the following statement:

“While we are pleased that Commissioner Fried stated that these changes are a first and not the last step, the announced modifications to the sugar field burning regulations will not stop the smoke and ash the residents in and around the Everglades Agricultural Area have been forced to endure. However, the announcements are a sign that the Stop the Burn activists who have been leading the fight since 2015 are on the right track. When FDACS announces a plan to phase out sugar field burning once and for all, and the switch to modern, sustainable green harvesting, we will celebrate. 

There are five main takeaways:

1. It is disingenuous to conflate pre-harvest burning with “prescribed burning.”  Agricultural burning used by sugar growers to decrease their harvesting costs cannot and must not be likened to the prescribed burning that keeps Florida wildlands healthy.  To label pre-harvest sugar field burning as “prescribed burning” and a “sustainability tool “is to unapologetically proclaim that it is good for us and the environment.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

2. The announced “two field rule” which will provide an 80-acre buffer between burned sugar fields and wild lands makes it clear that FDACS understands that nearby flames are a danger to the wild environment.  What is the disconnect that keeps the Department from seeing that nearby flames are also a danger to the human environment?  Prohibiting pre-harvest burning around schools and homes should be the first phase of the transition toward green harvesting and a complete ban on pre-harvest sugar field burning. 

3. The discriminatory nature of the wind restrictions has not been eliminated.  Neither the new weather/smoke modeling systems nor dispersion-related permitting will change the fact that Florida citizens in Pahokee, Belle Glade, South Bay, Indiantown, Clewiston, and Ortona will continue to suffer the ash and smoke while those living in eastern Palm Beach County remain protected by wind direction-based permitting.  The wind direction-based rules are inherently unjust, protecting the wealthier and whiter communities while literally choking the less affluent, more diverse neighborhoods with smoke, ash, and the concomitant health impacts. 

4. It is easy to say “public safety comes first” but until the people of Western Palm Beach, Martin, Hendry, and Glades counties are protected from smoke and ash it is not and cannot be a true statement.

5. What is most noteworthy to our campaign, and most important for the sugar industry to hear and accept, is that FDACS is encouraging the move to green harvesting and is directing attention to the biomass industry.  Green harvesting is the only way forward. It is the win-win-win solution that has already been proven sustainable, successful, and profitable elsewhere. What is Florida waiting for?

Pre-harvest sugar field burning is an outdated, toxic, inherently unjust, and entirely unneeded practice that the Florida sugar industry keeps and defends because no one in power has been willing to say no to them.  Commissioner Fried has made a move in the right direction but it is nowhere close to being enough.”

Campaign materials:

●       Stop the Burn Campaign Primer: http://bit.ly/2HoaaYj 

●       Sugarcane burn zone map and wind restriction definitions: http://bit.ly/2yJzIba 

●       Stop the Burn fact sheet: http://bit.ly/2IFPWMb

●       Health impact study summaries: http://bit.ly/2T38TsZ

###

Tampa Bay Sierra Volunteers Score with NFL for Stadium Recycling Effort

Volunteers in the Tampa Bay Group's Stadium Recycling Initiative at a recent game.

The NFL has recognized nationwide the Tampa Bay Sierra Club Stadium Recycling Initiative at Raymond James Stadium in its "Huddle for 100" program!  In honor of the National Football League’s 100^th season, the NFL has created the “Huddle for 100” program which  invites fans to partner with them, the players and their teams to choose a cause, volunteer 100 minutes of their time and help shape their community in a positive manner. The NFL’s goal is to record 100 million volunteer minutes in one season across the United States. It is a major NFL undertaking and is being promoted through radio and television advertising along with social media.

Tampa Bay's stadium recycling lead volunteer David Varrieur submitted the application on behalf of the Tampa Bay Group. The application basically stated: “This is the Tampa Bay Sierra Club's Stadium Recycling Initiative. It's the first NFL recycling program started in 1990. We have 20 volunteers @ 2 hours per event for all events. 120 minutes per person per event. 2,400 minutes per person annually. 48,000 minutes annually as a group. We recycled with Jack Groh (Director of the NFL Environmental Program) for Superbowl XLIII.”

Thousands of entries were submitted from all over the United States. But only one could be featured on the prestigious “20 million milestone reached!” section of the NFL Huddle for 100 website. That one is the Tampa Bay Sierra Club Group. The effort encourages game, event and concert attendees to recycle on the spot and at home.  Kudos to everyone involved  in this amazing accomplishment! 

To see the NFL acknowledgement of the Tampa Bay volunteers, click the link below scroll to the “20 million milestone reached!” section.

https://www.nfl.com/100/Huddlefor100/progress

The Stadium Recycling Initiative works like this:

Prior to the start of each stadium event, Sierra Club volunteers act as event day educational ambassadors. They encourage spectators to recycle using the recycling stations located both in and out of the stadium. A typical event will include 20 volunteers dressed in Sierra Club shirts. They stand at recycling stations at entry gates around the stadium, thanking guests for supporting the Sierra Club recycling program. 

This season, volunteers expanded into the parking lots and adjacent streets picking up plastic, aluminum and glass containers to bring back and deposit into the stadium recycling bins. Their efforts have resulted in collecting thousands of tons of recycled materials annually that may have ended up in incinerators.

After their shift, the volunteers are compensated by free entry into the event and they sit in the employee seating areas around the stadium. The Sierra Club Tampa Bay Group is compensated financially per event. This program is continuously the single largest annual fundraiser for them.

The Stadium Recycling Initiative continues to be an incredible recycling success story for the Tampa Bay community and fundraiser for the Tampa Bay Group. This season  events  include the Gasparilla Bowl, the Outback Bowl, the first XFL game and WrestleMania. The volunteers are also hopeful that the group will be invited to work the Superbowl in 2021. 

Interested in joining the team?  Contact David Varrieur at AppraiserAndRealtor@gmail.com to volunteer for this great community program.

Get Specific! Sierra Club Comments on the Blue-Green Algae Task Force Draft Consensus Document

Sierra Club Comments on Blue-Green Algae Task Force Draft Consensus Document

September 25, 2019

If this document is a blueprint for the development of specific regulatory recommendations to come, then the Sierra Club considers this a positive first step.

This document can be only a first step because it includes not one specific regulatory action recommendation; the closest it comes is to suggest broader adoption of the current regulations prohibiting permitting of conventional septic systems on lots of 1 acre or less in Outstanding Florida Spring watersheds.

Governor DeSantis has been regaling in the fact that he has called for increased fines for local governments that fail to meet water quality standards, but nowhere in this document do we see any recommended regulatory action that will help local governments meet higher water quality standards.  In fact, the preemption to the state of regulations that are critical to the protection of local watersheds has been ignored.  The best example of this is the state law that currently prohibits local governments from keeping urban fertilizer ordinance non-compliant products off local retail shelves.  And let us not forget biosolids.

Although the weaknesses and failures of current agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) were addressed, the obvious need for mandatory BMPs is most glaringly missing.  If local governments are being held to higher, stricter, and fineable standards, then these recommendations need to aggressively address agricultural runoff.

If this document remains a set of generalized recommendations, and the work of the Task Force produces nothing but non-specific recommendations, it will be easy for the legislature, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to have an excuse, and cover, for refusing to take effective action.

Sierra Club urges the Task Force members, Dr. Frazer, Secretary Valenstein, and Governor DeSantis to ensure that the result of this effort results in specific regulatory action recommendations.

Our questions today are:

1. Will the Task Force next be delving into the details and making specific suggestions?
2. Or will FDEP next be delving into the details and making specific suggestions?
3. What are the timeframes and accountability processes for the specific recommendations?
4. Will specific recommendations be made to the legislature?

Diana Umpierre, AICP

Organizing Representative

Everglades Restoration Campaign

Sierra Club

136A S. Main Street (P.O. Box 2347), Belle Glade, FL 33430

diana.umpierre@sierraclub.org

(954) 829-7632

(561) 983-8655

Summer of 2018 [Photo by John Moran]

Eliminate the preemption to the state of the regulation of retail urban fertilizer sales!

Sierra Club Comments to Blue-Green Algae Task Force

September 24, 2019

Local governments must be allowed to protect their own watersheds.  This Task Force’s recommendations must include a recommendation to pass legislation to eliminate the preemption to the state of the regulation of retail urban fertilizer sales (F.S. §570.07 (41) (a)).  

The preemption to the state of the regulation of retail urban fertilizer sales is absolutely and directly contrary to the protection of local watersheds from nitrogen and phosphorus pollution.

There are currently thirteen counties and over eighty municipalities that have adopted or are covered by urban fertilizer ordinances that restrict the seasonal application of nitrogen and phosphorus urban fertilizers.  However, due to the 2011 preemption of control over the sale of those nitrogen and phosphorus urban fertilizers, only Pinellas County, its municipalities, and the City of Tampa have the ability to keep products which are illegal to apply in those jurisdictions off retail shelves.

This preemption:

• Denies local governments the easiest and lowest cost method in which to enforce their urban fertilizer ordinances;
• Gives an unfair advantage to retailers – professional fertilizer applicators are prohibited from applying/selling the restricted products to their customers;
• Dampens the market for the multitude of ordinance-compliant products, many of which are produced by Florida-based fertilizer manufacturers;
• Allows retailers to sell illegal-to-use products to unknowing customers;
• Encourages unknowing customers to violate local ordinances and be subject to fines; and
• Diminishes the source control effectiveness of the ordinances, and therefore reduces the ability of the local government to protect its own watershed and local economy.

Fining local governments for pollution events makes no sense if the state is simultaneously tying their hands when it comes to the enforcement of important stormwater pollution source control measures.

Eliminating the preemption of the regulation of retail urban fertilizer sales is an easy lift for the legislature.  The only opponents to this action would be those now benefiting from the sale of illegal-to-use products and for whom the state should have no sympathy.

Diana Umpierre, AICP

Organizing Representative

Everglades Restoration Campaign

Sierra Club

136A S. Main Street (P.O. Box 2347), Belle Glade, FL 33430

diana.umpierre@sierraclub.org

(954) 829-7632

(561) 983-8655