The “Bad” is what was not discussed.
1.
There
was no panelist, no Member of Congress, who talked about how the State
of Florida, with EPA’s blessing, has adopted a water quality rule that:
a.
was
written by polluter lobbyists;
b.
was
promoted by the state’s biggest polluters; and
c.
leaves
two-thirds of all Florida’s flowing waters (including ALL canals, ALL
tidal creeks, ALL of South Florida flowing waters, and the majority
of the tributaries that flow into Lake Okeechobee) without
pollution limits.
Our coastal estuaries are getting
hit with POLLUTED water from Lake “O” – it is not just the quantity, but
the very poor quality of the discharged water that is wreaking the
havoc.
Until Florida politicians
have the guts to take on the state’s biggest polluters – make them pay
for pollution prevention at the source of the problem – we taxpayers
will have to pay for the cleanup.
Kudos to Jennifer Hecker of
the Conservancy of Southwest Florida for asking Representatives Murphy and Radel what Congress can do about the weak Florida pollution
rule. We will see if she gets the right answer. To see the video of the whole
proceeding click here – Hecker’s question is at 3:56:51 on the clock).
2.
The
U.S. Sugar land purchase deal was all but ignored in the briefing.
We know that in order to restore the Everglades, in order to handle the large amount of water that makes its way to Lake “O”, we must send the water south – that cannot be accomplished without the land for a flow way.
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