Part of Our Problem: We Don't Know Who the Environmentalists Are - Our Santa Fe River

Part of Our Problem: We Don’t
Know Who the Environmentalists
Are.
July 10, 2021

Environmentalists with a temporary win over polluter
Pilgrim’s Pride. Here are some environmental leaders.
This is what “environmental leaders” look like.

This article exposes part our problem that we have in Florida
regarding water. People recognize our red tide and green algae
issues because they are visible and smelly. The slow death of
our springs and rivers go unnoticed by many because they are
less visible and the authorities lie and say things are fine
because they are spending billions.

Added to that is the problem that we do not know who the
environmentalists are. From the following article it seems that
the “handful of state environmental leaders” are the FWC and
Mote Marine, and maybe Tom Frazer.     None of these is an
environmentalist; FWC sprays poisons into our waters, Mote
Marine is tied to polluters and   downplays red tide as a
“natural occurrence,”   and Tom Frazer supports wolf-in-sheep’s-
clothing water bills.

True environmentalists include groups such as Our Santa Fe
River, Center for Biological Diversity, Florida Defenders of the
Environment, Sierra Club, Florida Springs Institute, Florida
Springs Council, and many others.

For the innocents, DeSantis, the Department of Environmental
Protection and the water management districts are not trying to
fix our waters;    they are trying to keep their jobs without
offending agriculture and industrial polluters such as Pilgrim’s
Pride; to do this they spend billions trying to look good while
applying aspirin to a dying water system and hoodwinking a lot
of people.

Notice all the talk about funding and money in the article
below. How has this funding stopped red tide and green algae?

Read the complete article here at Florida Politics.

Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum

‘This is not 2018’: Panelists
praise     Gov.     DeSantis’
commitment    to   red   tide
research

   Panelists   praise  Gov.
DeSantis’ commitment to red
tide research
By Kelly Hayes, June 17, 2021

High concentrations of red tide have been reported off the coast
of Pinellas County this past week.
Gov. Ron DeSantis met with a handful of state environmental
leaders Thursday morning to discuss the latest developments in
red tide research as the harmful algae bloom continues affecting
Pinellas County beaches.

“I think it’s a great place to be,” DeSantis said about the
state of red tide research. “This is not 2018. Hopefully, we
don’t see that this time or anytime in the future.”

The Governor’s presence was met with praise from the panelists,
who credited his leadership to the growing focus on addressing
red tide in the state, including continued funding.

“Funding would rise and fall depending on whether we had events
or not, so if we went a few years without a severe event, the

funding would drop and our ability to respond and maintain this
network of partners would be diminished,” said Gil McRae,
Director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC) Research
Institute. “So we want to thank you for your recognition that
continued support is critical for keeping this network intact
and responding the way we need to respond.”

Back in 2019, DeSantis signed into law SB 1552, which
established the Florida Red Tide Mitigation and Technology
Development Initiative, a partnership between FWC and Mote
Marine Laboratory to develop technologies and approaches to
control and mitigate red tide and its impacts. The bill also
provided a $3 million annual appropriation for the program for
six years, for a total of $18 million in funding.

“Gil’s point was absolutely on target — the consistency of
funding is critical and that’s why I think the Legislature with
your leadership has helped us to have that consistent funding
for six years,” said marine scientist Mike Crosby, CEO of Mote
Marine. “We’re going to grow a whole new science-based industry
here in the state that is going to be able to use this advanced
technology to be deployed against many kinds of harmful algal
blooms. So we’re very, very excited.”

McRae also credited the     Governor’s move to reinstate the Red
Tide Task Force in 2019     after being inactive for more than a
decade. Since 2019, the     state has dedicated more than $14.5
million to the Center for   Red Tide Research at FWC.

“I’m excited. We obviously had to put capital behind getting
funding and we’ve stuck to it, and even in a difficult budget
year, last year, with COVID, we made sure that we were able to
keep our priorities,” DeSantis said….

Pinellas County beaches from St. Pete Beach north to Honeymoon
Island are currently showing various levels of red tide.

Respiratory irritation has been reported at several beaches and
fish kills have been present for at least two weeks, though no
beaches have officially closed.

“The key is, red tide begins far off shore. It comes inland when
the currents are ripe, and then it takes advantage of the
nutrient load that are naturally occurring,” Crosby said. “Every
year, you’re going to have red tide... But when you get that
perfect storm, if you will, of conditions both physical,
chemical and biological, then you get these blooms.”

The impact of the Piney Point leak briefly wedged its way into
the discussion. Tom Frazer, dean of the University of South
Florida College of Marine Science, said that while Piney Point
likely did not cause the current bloom, it could have
exacerbated it.

“I don’t think you can make a definitive cause and effect kind
of a relationship at this point,” Frazer said. “But what I can
say is that we all understand that increased nutrient delivery
to our coastal waters can exacerbate these blooms, and kind of
fuel them for some period of time. I’m pretty pleased with the
effort on behalf of the state to reduce those nutrient inputs,
moving forward.”

Kelly Hayes
Kelly Hayes studied journalism and political science at the
University of Florida. Kelly was born and raised in Tampa Bay. A
recent graduate, she enjoys government and legal reporting. She

has experience covering the Florida Legislature as well as local
government, and is a proud Alligator alum. You can reach Kelly
at kelly@floridapolitics.com.