By Scott Maxwell
August 2, 2016
Orlando Sentinel
A few weeks ago,
Florida made national news for being coated in thick, green, toxic algae.
It looked like a river of snot. It smelled worse. And it mangled the economy along the St. Lucie River and Treasure Coast.
Anyone with one good eye and nostril knew something needed to be done.
Well, last week, Florida officials responded … by voting to allow more cancer-causing agents into the Sunshine State’s drinking water supplies and recreational waters.
No, I’m not kidding.
While the state is still reeling from one water crisis, Gov. Rick Scott’s “environmental” commission voted to allow higher levels of things like benzene (which can lead to leukemia) and tetrachloroethylene (which has been linked to bladder cancer) into ground water supplies elsewhere.
It may sound too ridiculous for fiction. But it’s not too ridiculous for Florida — where environmentalism is about as dead as the belly-up fish in the algae blooms.
Politicians here routinely tout Florida’s natural beauty on the campaign trail, but then treat the state like a roll of toilet paper. (Seriously, check out our lax septic tank policies.)
They allow companies, developers and homeowners to pave and foul the land — and then charge taxpayers billions to clean it up. Fiscal conservatism, my asphalt.
It’d be easy to blame our current governor for all our woes. Democrats often do. And there’s no doubt Rick Scott has shown depraved indifference for all things green or natural.
But generations of politicians — Republicans and Democrats — have literally paved the way for our current problems.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson made that clear, noting the Everglades’ problems are the result of bad decisions made over and over again for “three-quarters of a century.”
Natural water flow was disrupted. Concrete was poured. Farms were allowed to pollute.
Sure, some people objected. But politicians teamed up with polluters and developers to demonize protesters. People worried about clean air or water were labeled as “job killers.”
Now we’re spending $8 billion repairing the Everglades.
And when I say “we,” I mean you, the state and federal taxpayer. You, the sap. You, the enabler.
Sometimes, brave souls speak up for taxpayers and the environment. One tried last week — and almost got arrested for it.
This brave warrior’s name is John Moran, a 26-year-old Tallahassee native getting his PhD in anthropology at Stanford.
When Moran saw a state board was about to vote to allow more carcinogens in your water supply — without a designated member of the “environmental community” on the board, as instructed by state statutes — Moran marched to the dais, filled the empty seat and prepared to speak up.
“The seat should not have been vacant for me to sit in,” Moran later said. “It should’ve been filled with a qualified representative.”
But Gov. Scott had intentionally left the position empty. This allowed his Environmental Regulations Commission — which hadn’t even met in nearly two years — to vote without any pesky environmentalists.
So security escorted Moran out. The seats reserved for both an environmentalist and a local government rep were left empty. And the commission voted to allow more carcinogens in your water by a 3-2 margin.
That is your government in action.
The EPA will have the final say on the guidelines, which also call for regulating some new chemicals as well.
Moran’s protest may have been unique. But he doesn’t think his beliefs are, saying: “I think most of us care about our water, springs and air.”
I think so, too. But we don’t act like it. Instead, we keep electing politicians who foul the land and then stick us with the bill.
There are plenty of places to take a stand or send a message. Earlier this year, for instance, the State House voted for a fracking bill that had advocates worried about more chemicals being injected into the ground.
Fortunately, Democrats and Republicans in the State Senate united to kill the bill. But only after the House approved it with the support of such local GOP reps as Jason Brodeur, Bob Cortes, Eric Eisnaugle, Scott Plakon, Rene Plasencia and Ritch Workman.
Did you know how your representative voted? Did you tell him or her what you thought? Are you planning on putting them back in office?
Obviously state officials don’t care if environmental posts sit empty. But do you?
Or are you just going to wait for the next big blob of toxic ooze to arrive … along with the massive cleanup bill you are always expected to pay?