A few months back, I was asked to contribute a column for The Suns Messages of the Springs Heartland about the outcome from the 2022 Florida legislative sessions. I was happy to accept. My job at the Florida Springs Council is to track legislation. I believe it is important that Floridians know what happens during the legislative session at Tallahassee, and how those decisions impact us and the environment.
I was optimistic about the 2022 legislative session. If you want work in Florida environmental advocacy, optimism will be a job requirement. It was an election year and water issues and manatees were at the forefront of people’s minds. The Legislature appeared ready to take action on at most one top environmental priority.
I was wrong.
Money and greed prevailed in Tallahassee once again, thanks in no small measure to campaign checks distributed by industry groups such as Associated Industries of Florida and campaign fraud linked with some of Florida’s most powerful corporations.
(This is the section of the guest column that I am supposed write about all the laws passed by the Legislature in 2022 to protect Florida’s springs and rivers and save the manatees.
Let’s now look at what happened this year.
Rooftop solar in Florida was scuttled to benefit shareholders and utility executives.
Utility companies seeking to destroy wetlands may now be allowed to pay the Department of Environmental Protection for expedited applications. This is possibly the clearest case of “pay-to-play” ever enshrined in statute.
The Senate rejected the initial proposal to eliminate all districts in the state. But after an environmentalist beat the preferred candidate for a seat at the local Soil and Water Conservation District, it settled on limiting who can run for these seats only to candidates paid by farmers.
Current leader in the Legislature, and candidate for state agriculture commissioner, loaded up the budget for the agency he hopes will lead, while prohibiting its use until after the next election.
A huge bill that affected many areas of Florida’s environmental policy was filed in the last minute. It skipped the committee process and was passed with minor amendments to please the governors wealthy donors.
The sad truth of the matter is that Floridians would and Florida’s waters would be much better off if the Legislature passed the state budget, which they are required to do every year, and then went home.
Clean water isn’t a red-vs.-blue issue like the culture wars and social issues that dominate politics today. It’s a matter of corporate greed versus public good. Despite the fact that almost all Floridians I know would choose the latter, and Florida voters vote again and again in favor of environmental initiatives that have numbers that even the most popular politician can only dream of, the Capitol still fails to protect the public good.
Ryan Smart has more:How politics and state funding impact water management districts
The process is what we can change, but the outcome cannot be changed. We cannot change the outcome without changing who is elected.
I cannot tell you which candidate to vote for. Even if I could, it would be a lie to tell you that I can’t tell you who to vote for. Even if I did, you won’t find a candidate from either party on the ballot worthy to your vote if you value Florida as much as I do.
Maybe I can help you ask the right question of the candidates. These are simple questions that have simple answers. These questions are so simple that candidates for the Florida Legislature should easily be able answer yes or not.
Accepting campaign contributions from corporations or special interests political action committees?
Should corporations be allowed millions of gallons to flow daily from Florida’s springs free of charge?
Is the Florida Department of Environmental Protection doing a great job of protecting Florida’s waters?
It is unlikely that a candidate who does not answer these questions on their campaign trail will tell polluters, developers, and corporate lobbyists no at the Capitol. They won’t get my vote and they likely don’t deserve yours.
If you don’t want to read another guest article like this next year, as much as I don’t want to write one. Please ask these three questions to candidates and then vote water this election.
Ryan Smart is the executive Director of the Florida Springs Council.
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