Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

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 […]

Associated PressJanuary 18, 2017

An environmental group is challenging a rate hike for Florida’s largest electric utility. The Sierra Club on Tuesday asked the state Supreme Court to reject an $811 million hike that was approved last year for Florida Power & Light. FPL has about 4.8 million customers in the state. FPL initially wanted a $1.3 billion hike […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 9, 2017

Rex Tillerson‘s confirmation hearing for Secretary of State begins Wednesday morning at 9 a.m., and dozens of activists in Tampa want to make sure that Marco Rubio holds Tillerson’s feet to the fire during that hearing. At a rally in front of the Senator’s district office in Tampa’s Westshore area on Monday afternoon, approximately 75 people stood […]

Associated PressNovember 8, 2016

Voters in sun-bathed Florida will face a decision Tuesday that could weigh heavily on the use — and cost — of solar power in the state. The solar power industry is opposed to Amendment 1, a proposal to amend the state constitution that will appear on the ballot as “Florida Solar Energy Subsidies and Personal […]

Tag: Sierra Club

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

Sierra Club challenges nearly $1 billion electric rate hike

Protesters in Tampa tell Marco Rubio to hold Rex Tillerson accountable during confirmation hearing

Voters in Florida face crucial solar power decisions

Florida politics had 11 questions before federal qualifying week. Here are the answers.