When James Gaddis was asked to begin mapping hotels, golf courses, and pickleball courts in nine Florida state parks this past July, he felt that the project was "secretive and atrocious." Gaddis, who worked for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, found the project "unethical," as there was no public involvement. Knowing it could risk his $49,000 a year, he leaked documents showing what was being planned in the state parks.
According to an article in the Tallahassee Democrat ("State parks whistleblower overwhelmed by praise and more than $207,600 in donations"), the single dad found the project "unethical," as there was no public involvement, violating Florida's Sunshine Law. He was subsequently fired from his job for leaking the documents.
Once the plans to bulldoze parts of different state parks for the project came to light, public outcry was swift and firm against the addition in state parks, causing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to put a stop to the plan.
To read the rest of the story, including praise for James Gaddis, go to "State parks whistleblower overwhelmed by praise and more than $207,600 in donations".
Friday, September 6, 2024
Friday, March 23, 2018
Plastic 'Increasing Exponentially' within the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
A seventy-nine thousand ton plastic garbage patch floating in the Pacific Ocean now occupies "an area three times the size of France," according to an article printed in The Washington Post and reprinted in the Tampa Bay Times.
Surveyors using 18 boats and two planes found that "(t)he amount of plastic found in this area...in 'increasing exponentially'."
While the garbage patch has been described before, the latest survey estimates the plastic contained in the patch has a 4 to 16 times larger mass than previously thought.
To read the article in The Washington Post, click here. Click here to read it in the Tampa Bay Times.
Surveyors using 18 boats and two planes found that "(t)he amount of plastic found in this area...in 'increasing exponentially'."
While the garbage patch has been described before, the latest survey estimates the plastic contained in the patch has a 4 to 16 times larger mass than previously thought.
To read the article in The Washington Post, click here. Click here to read it in the Tampa Bay Times.
"Modest Interest" to Federal Offshore Oil Auction, Setback to Trump Admin
A federal auction of 77 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for offshore oil production has garnered only "modest interest" from the oil industry, according to an article in The New York Times.
According to the article ("Auction of Oil Drilling Tracts in Gulf Draws Tepid Interest"), "Companies bid on only 1 percent of the acreage," with only $125 million going to the government.
Major oil companies are taking a "wait and see" approach to exploration at this time, a senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie stated.
While the administration is attempting to "revive exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico," that production has been hurt by sliding oil prices during the last four years. Also, drilling in both the gulf and other deep waters has "slowed considerably" following the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon explosion.
In January, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced that Florida would be exempts from President Trump's offshore drilling plan, according to another article in the Times ("Drilling Off Florida Is Still on the Table, Interior Official Says").
The Trump administration has lifted a drilling bad imposed by President Barack Obama. However, the lack of interest in the auction may help the environment, at least for the short term.
To read the main article in its entirety, click here. To read the earlier article, click here.
According to the article ("Auction of Oil Drilling Tracts in Gulf Draws Tepid Interest"), "Companies bid on only 1 percent of the acreage," with only $125 million going to the government.
Major oil companies are taking a "wait and see" approach to exploration at this time, a senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie stated.
While the administration is attempting to "revive exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico," that production has been hurt by sliding oil prices during the last four years. Also, drilling in both the gulf and other deep waters has "slowed considerably" following the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon explosion.
In January, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced that Florida would be exempts from President Trump's offshore drilling plan, according to another article in the Times ("Drilling Off Florida Is Still on the Table, Interior Official Says").
The Trump administration has lifted a drilling bad imposed by President Barack Obama. However, the lack of interest in the auction may help the environment, at least for the short term.
To read the main article in its entirety, click here. To read the earlier article, click here.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Florida Nuclear Plant Cooling System Leak Threatens Drinking Water
A leak in Florida Power & Light's reactors at the Turkey Point nuclear plant has allowed polluted water to enter Biscayne Bay, according to a recent article in The New York Time.
The article ("Nuclear Plant Leak Threatens Drinking Water Wells in Florida"), published March 22, states, "A recent study commissioned by the county concluded that Turkey Point’s old cooling canal system was leaking polluted water into Biscayne Bay," thereby polluting surface water, along with the bay's "fragile ecosystem." It is also allowing "a large saltwater plume" to move towards wells supplying "drinking water to millions of residents in Miami and the Florida Keys."
To read the article in its entirety, click here.
The article ("Nuclear Plant Leak Threatens Drinking Water Wells in Florida"), published March 22, states, "A recent study commissioned by the county concluded that Turkey Point’s old cooling canal system was leaking polluted water into Biscayne Bay," thereby polluting surface water, along with the bay's "fragile ecosystem." It is also allowing "a large saltwater plume" to move towards wells supplying "drinking water to millions of residents in Miami and the Florida Keys."
To read the article in its entirety, click here.
Saturday, January 9, 2016
The Corporate Lawyer Who Became a Corporation's Nightmare
What happens when a lawyer follows his conscience and uses his training to help right a wrong? You'd be surprised. Or, maybe not, if you know a the type of lawyer who gives lawyers a good name.
Wilbur Tennant's cows were dying at an alarming rate, and he was sure he knew who was responsible: the DuPont chemical company, according to The New York Times' Magazine. When he couldn't get local "politicians, journalists, doctors and veterinarians" as well as lawyers to pay attention, he reached out to Rob Bilott, an attorney whose grandmother had lived in Vienna, W.Va., a suburb of Parkersburg, where Tennant lived. Bilott nearly hung up on Tennant, until he realized the connection.
The Times' Magazine's story, "The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare", due out in tomorrow's New York Times Magazine, tells how Bilott, an environmental lawyer who defended corporations - including working several times with DuPont's lawyers - decided to take Tennant's case and later became, in the words of the Magazine, "DuPont's worst nightmare.
The article is a must-read for anyone who cares about the environment. To read the article in its entirety, click here.
Wilbur Tennant's cows were dying at an alarming rate, and he was sure he knew who was responsible: the DuPont chemical company, according to The New York Times' Magazine. When he couldn't get local "politicians, journalists, doctors and veterinarians" as well as lawyers to pay attention, he reached out to Rob Bilott, an attorney whose grandmother had lived in Vienna, W.Va., a suburb of Parkersburg, where Tennant lived. Bilott nearly hung up on Tennant, until he realized the connection.
The Times' Magazine's story, "The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare", due out in tomorrow's New York Times Magazine, tells how Bilott, an environmental lawyer who defended corporations - including working several times with DuPont's lawyers - decided to take Tennant's case and later became, in the words of the Magazine, "DuPont's worst nightmare.
The article is a must-read for anyone who cares about the environment. To read the article in its entirety, click here.
Monday, April 27, 2015
FL Voters Approved Conservation Funds; Legislature Has Other Ideas
When Florida voters cast their ballots in November's election, they sent a message to elected officials: Protect Florida's natural habitats, including the Everglades, according to The New York Times. But the Florida Legislature has other ideas on how to spend the $750 million pool set aside to "buy, conserve and restore land and water resources."
During November's election, 75 percent of Florida's voters approved constitutional Amendment 1, which was intended to boost Florida Forever, a conservation program "that had been hard hit by state budge cuts," The Times reports.
However, during the current Florida Legislative session, lawmakers shifted money to other programs and projects.
"We don't need to be known as the boarding-land state," State Senator Alan Hays, the Republican chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee, said about the money.
To read the entire New York Times article, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/us/florida-legislature-has-its-own-ideas-for-voter-approved-conservation-fund.html?ref=us&_r=0.
During November's election, 75 percent of Florida's voters approved constitutional Amendment 1, which was intended to boost Florida Forever, a conservation program "that had been hard hit by state budge cuts," The Times reports.
However, during the current Florida Legislative session, lawmakers shifted money to other programs and projects.
"We don't need to be known as the boarding-land state," State Senator Alan Hays, the Republican chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee, said about the money.
To read the entire New York Times article, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/us/florida-legislature-has-its-own-ideas-for-voter-approved-conservation-fund.html?ref=us&_r=0.
Friday, April 24, 2015
Fracking: Study Shows Waste Dangerous
A recent study states that state regulations which governs hazardous oil-and-gas waste poses a danger to human health, as well as the environment. An article titled Fracking Wast Puts Public At Risk, Study Says (Bradenton Herald) reports that "states disregard the risks" due to decades-old regulations, putting the public's health and the environment at risk
The study, released by the environmental organization Earthworks, "studied the rules governing of the often toxic waste..."
To read the Bradenton Herald article in its entirety, click here. To read more about Fracking, as well as other environmental issues, go to Inside Climate News.
The study, released by the environmental organization Earthworks, "studied the rules governing of the often toxic waste..."
To read the Bradenton Herald article in its entirety, click here. To read more about Fracking, as well as other environmental issues, go to Inside Climate News.
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