Jacob Ogles
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan applauded Gov. Ron DeSantis for focusing much of his first week on environmental issues.
“I was pleased to see your administration’s top priorities include efforts to protect Florida’s rich natural resources and address water quality issues plaguing our state,” the Sarasota Republican wrote in a letter to DeSantis.
“It was particularly encouraging to see you promote efforts to combat Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), including red tide and denounce offshore oil and gas drilling off the coast of Florida.”
Buchanan and U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Boca Raton Democrat, co-sponsored legislation last year that set aside $100 million toward fighting algal blooms.
Buchanan and Hastings serve as co-chairs of Florida’s Legislative Delegation. DeSantis, notably, served as a Florida congressman for most of the six years preceding his election as Florida governor.
President Donald Trump signed the legislation into law last week.
That’s part of why Buchanan applauded an executive order by DeSantis that, among other things, established a Blue-Green Algae Task Force.
“I commend your calls for the establishment of a Blue-Green Algae Taskforce aimed at reducing the impacts of these toxic blooms and encourage you to include efforts to study and mitigate the damaging effects of red tide with equal vigor,” Buchanan wrote.
“Due to the overwhelming environmental damage red tide has inflicted on our coastal communities, Suncoast businesses have reported millions of dollars in lost revenue in the last year alone. In fact, a survey by Visit Sarasota found that a staggering 95 percent of local businesses reported losses related to red tide.”
Buchanan’s largely coastal district suffered from outbreaks of red tide along Florida’s west coast.
Previous Gov. Rick Scott, now Florida’s junior U.S. Senator, budgeted millions toward the study of red tide last year.
But DeSantis wants $2.5 billion toward water quality and Everglades restoration efforts in the next four years. Where that money is coming from still isn’t clear.
And the Governor seems focused on blue-green algae, a potentially but not conclusively related phenomenon many think contributed to red tide blooms.
Red tide outbreaks this year bloomed shortly after blue-green algae outbreaks in the Caloosahatchee River, which followed discharges from Lake Okeechobee.
Many environmental groups say the arrival of the discharges and blue-green algae is related to nutrient releases into the Gulf of Mexico, which feed red tide perpetually present in the Gulf.
Buchanan also applauded DeSantis for speaking up about drilling.
“As a longtime opponent of drilling off the coast of Florida, I also look forward to working with you to fight against any attempts to open up our shores and invite the potential for disaster,” Buchanan wrote to DeSantis.
“Floridians know all too well that an oil spill can devastate a regional economy and inflict long-term environmental damage.”
He stressed the state and nearby environment still suffer the impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion.
“As the state with the longest coastlines in the continental United States, Florida is especially vulnerable to oil spills,” Buchanan wrote.
“In fact, experts believe we are still years, if not decades, away from fully understanding the extent of the damage from the Deepwater Horizon spill of 2010.”
One comment
MT
January 17, 2019 at 10:00 am
While it is certainly good news to see republicans finally taking an interest in environmental issues, it is an act that is much too late in the process. While state republicans are now scrambling to control a disaster, in which they had a big part in creating, their past environmental records and their ignoring the problems of red tide until it became an economic catastrophe is disturbing.
Rep. Buchanan has an environmental score with the League of Conservation voters of 19% lifetime. He votes against needed environmental legislation more than 80% of the time. As an example, Rep. Buchanan voted for a bill that was harmful to human and environmental health: ‘Representative Ken Calvert (R-CA) sponsored H.R. 3354, the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018, which would harm people’s health and the outdoors by slashing funding for many critical programs and by using radical policy riders to outright block environmental protections. This spending bill contained damaging cuts to programs that protect public health and fuel our outdoor economy, such as the more than $500 million cut to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the 32 percent cut to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Additionally, this legislation contained a slew of anti-environmental and other ideological policy riders, including a measure that would allow the EPA to bypass the law and hide its repeal of drinking water protections for 117 million people. On September 14, the House approved H.R. 3354 by a vote of 211-198 (House roll call vote 528). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. ‘ Rep. Buchanan approved of this legislation that thankfully has not reached the senate.
Wanting to control and understand red tide is admirable, but it has shallow meaning when more than 80% of Rep. Buchanan’s environmental vote is anti-environment. And Ron DeSantis’, the new governor’s, record on environmental legislation is more troubling than that of Rep. Buchanan. His scorecard for protecting the environment is 2%. Before journalists give these people a platform, they should look at the body of work and not just the slogans.
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