If the environment is ruined, destruction will not arrive at once. There is no sudden onset of poison or a tsunami wave. Nature’s splendor and species degradation was a slow process, pushing the uphill by humans who “made decisions over decades.”
These are the words of Bethany Burns, Associate Research Editor of the Tampa Bay Times. He equated years of effective Florida environmental regulations with watching slow moving horror stories. On Monday, she and the team behind the Tampa Bay Times investigation gathered in a restaurant filled with environmentalists, scientists, students and readers. The journalist spoke about the painstakingly reported project of unleashing worsened water pollution and manatee hunger in Florida.
Goodwill in St. Petersburg had burst. Despite the delicious cocktails, all the sheets were packed with people with sharp attention. In this era of Draconian government reduction, they had real concerns.
Is there any development to blame natural dangers? Everyone loves manatees, but why do adorable creatures like the beloved insects disappear? Can even citizen scientists and high school students maintain records that the government doesn’t have? As higher education flattens out and federal jobs are reduced, what is next for academic labor that cultivates research that is wasted?
No one has a magic wand. But nights like this serve as a reminder that people will remain vibrant. Not everyone is indifferent to the spirit of fighting scattered like pickle balls at risk of overtaking state parks.
With that in mind, we wait for many of the slow-moving horror stories to unfold in Tallahassee. Last week, the Florida Legislature sent a bill to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk to protect the park. The bipartisan bill bans a number of luxury aimed at leisure classes in Florida.
You may recall hatching plans to build golf courses, hotels and other tourist amenities on vulnerable state lands. You may also remember that the plan was conceived in the shadows until our reporters learned. Ah, then you may remember that DeSantis denied seeing the plan.
Pretty standard fare: ACT obtuse angle, denounce the media and try to sell some bridges.
What was not the norm was the response from ordinary people linking across party lines to protest, denounce the plan and demanding protection of wild lands. Here we are waiting for the signature of a man at the helm of a huge failure.
Will Desantis sign? If he has one iota of political sense left, he will. But if old William Shakespeare taught us anything, it’s not to underestimate the power of hubrifying. Or, apparently golf.
Again, don’t underestimate this. When people are willing to work together, the outcome can overwhelm some bad apples.
Reporters reminded people in the room of their strength on Monday. Floridians have the right to know how taxes are used, how water and land, and how the Kina breeds are preserved or sacrificed. Journalists may have different skills and resources to explain these findings, but we are not wizards with some special distributions. Anyone can request a public record and requests that decisions made over decades or decades begin to change.
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“If you’re interested in what’s going on in the government, ask for a record,” investigator Zach Sampson said. “And if you get something good, send it to the reporter.”
Cheers to that.
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