Space Forum / Astronomy / July 2008

Bert, at least someone -- likely Andrew Revkin -- at the NYTs like
wetlands; and you do, too.

The New York Times
June 26, 2008

Editorial
A Chance for the Everglades

The languishing effort to revive and restore the Everglades — one of
the most ambitious environmental initiatives on the planet — received
an unexpected and potentially spectacular boost on Tuesday when Gov.
Charlie Crist announced that Florida had agreed in principle to buy
187,000 acres of farmland from the United States Sugar Corporation,
the state’s (and the nation’s) largest sugar-cane producer.

The farmland, located along the southern edge of Lake Okeechobee,
would be converted into reservoirs to store water and artificial
marshes to help clean it.

The $1.75 billion deal would remove a big source of phosphorus
pollution, which sugar-cane farming produces in abundance. The greater
benefit would come from restoring a good part of the historic water
flow between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades — a flow that
sustained the Everglades for centuries but has since been diverted (at
great cost to the ecosystem and its wildlife) to Florida’s cities and
farms.

We also hope that the deal will shame Washington into shouldering its
full responsibility. The landmark $8 billion restoration plan signed
into law by President Clinton in 2000 called for a 50-50 split in
costs between Florida and the federal government.

Florida has been living up to its share, contributing $2.4 billion
even before this latest deal. Under President Bush, willfully
indifferent to most environmental issues, and an inattentive Congress,
the federal government has contributed less than $400 million — a
pathetic showing.

As a result, the restoration project is way behind schedule. And while
the state got a bargain from United States Sugar — which has suffered
internal financial problems as well as pressure from state regulators
— rising land values have pushed the plan’s price tag to more than $11
billion, making federal support even more essential.

The cooperation of the notoriously dysfunctional Army Corps of
Engineers will be at least as important as more federal dollars. There
is no point in storing billions of gallons of fresh water unless a
path can be cleared for it to reach the Everglades. That will require
the Army Corps to reshape the spider web of canals and levees standing
between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades.

Success will also require a fundamental shift in Florida’s politics
far beyond this deal. There are many reasons for restoring the
Everglades. It is, even now, an irreplaceably diverse storehouse of
plant and animal life. But it will have no real future if the
commercial powerhouses that have ruled Florida for so long — the
developers, the water utilities and their political allies — continue
to grab a disproportionate share of the water.

Governor Crist, at least, seems determined to make sure that, this
time, nature gets its due. The next president and Congress, and the
Army Corps, must help him.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/opinion/26thu2.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print