Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Jim RosicaMay 4, 2018

As a May 25 deadline to complete discovery approaches, depositions continue in a lawsuit over how the state funds environmental conservation. Court dockets viewed Friday show a flurry of notices filed late last month for what are called “depositions duces tecum,” which compel witnesses to produce documents and be interviewed before a trial. Environmental advocacy groups […]

Jim RosicaApril 6, 2018

There’ll be no “toilet-to-tap” in Florida this year. Gov. Rick Scott on Friday vetoed a water-related measure (HB 1149) from the 2018 Legislative Session, which includes a contentious provision that’s come to be known as “toilet-to-tap.” The proposal would have allowed chemically treated, recycled water to be pumped into the state’s underground aquifer, an effort supporters say will […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 12, 2018

For years (or even decades), Florida environmentalists have faulted investor-owned utilities for a reluctance to embrace solar power in the Sunshine State. But that’s beginning to change, with no utility doing more on that front than Tampa Electric Company. Soon after Canadian energy firm Emera purchased TECO last year for $10.4 billion, the Tampa-based utility […]

Peter SchorschDecember 29, 2017

Closing the book on 2017, among the most notable political battles centered on Lake Okeechobee water issues. While lawmakers reached a compromise earlier in the year, this food fight may be far from over. Last Session, environmental activists, working with Senate President Joe Negron, hammered out a bill that (at one point) called for buying […]

Mitch PerryDecember 7, 2017

Long before he was a member of the St. Petersburg City Council, Karl Nurse was an environmental activist. So it’s no surprise during his time in office he’s built a long and distinguished record on the environment. With just weeks left in his Council career, the local lawmaker was surprised Thursday when he was feted by members of […]

Jim RosicaSeptember 28, 2017

A Tallahassee judge has set a trial week in a lawsuit over the state’s environmental funding under a constitutional amendment passed almost three years ago. Circuit Judge Charles Dodson scheduled a weeklong bench trial for next July 23-27, with a pretrial conference set for June 15, court records show. Discovery in the case was ordered finished […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 5, 2017

Our Florida elected legislators are coming back to Tallahassee this month to begin deliberating the public’s business. In legislative committee meetings, they will start deciding which issues will become priorities for the official 60-day 2018 legislative session that begins in January. One question all citizens should be asking our lawmakers: Will they once again blatantly […]

Phil AmmannJuly 6, 2017

Progress Florida is one of the organizations and leaders opposing a plan to use seismic airgun testing for oil and gas exploration off the state’s Atlantic coast. The progressive nonprofit organization says the procedure threatens marine wildlife and coastal economies as well as Florida’s tourism and fishing industries. “The noise from seismic airgun blasts is […]

Jim RosicaMay 24, 2017

A lawsuit over the state’s environmental funding under a new constitutional amendment is expected to resume now that the annual Session is in lawmakers’ rear-view mirror. An array of environmental advocacy groups had filed suit over the Water and Land Legacy Amendment, also known as Amendment 1. The constitutional change, approved by voters in 2014, mandates state […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 19, 2017

It’s incredible how foggy some people’s memories are when it comes to past efforts to restore the Everglades, buy farmland and build a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee. Time and again, environmental extremists are quick to blame the sugar industry for every ill in the region, past, present and future, without any regard to science […]

Tag: Sierra Club
Sen Rick Scott in Sarasota. Photo by Jacob Ogles.

Amendment 1 lawsuit still moving toward trial

Rick Scott vetoes ‘toilet-to-tap’ measure

Bury ’em: Utility chief favors underground power lines

Never satisfied, environmentalists should just take the win for Lake O reservoir

Karl Nurse surprised with Sierra Club honor during one of his final City Council meetings

Environmental lawsuit over ‘Amendment 1’ funding set for trial

Manley Fuller: Legislators must implement Amendment 1 conservation spending

Progress Florida joins thousands opposing Trump’s plan for seismic airgun testing off Florida coast

Amendment 1 lawsuit may rev up after Session

J.P. Sasser: Environmental activists rewriting history, fraudulently manipulating data to sell land plan