Bruce Ritchie reports:
A bill filed by a Senate budget subcommittee chairman would prohibit the Public Service Commission from allowing private utilities to charge customers higher rates for using large amounts of water.
SB 1244 appears aimed at Aqua Utilities Florida, the largest private water utility in Florida. But the bill is raising broader concerns among some [...]
Bruce Ritchie
Floridaenvironments.com
Author Cynthia Barnett of Gainesville says she traces the start of her focus on water issues to a St. Petersburg Timespage 1A story written in 2003 that she says made her “insane.”
Barnett is author of “Blue Revolution: Unmaking America’s Water Crisis.” It’s an important new book that challenges Americans to transform their views of [...]
Earlier this year a bill was introduced in Florida by Senator Jim Norman that would have made it a felony to take photos or video of a farm or agriculture operation.
The “Ag Gag” bill was openly supported by Big Ag and directed at both whistle-blowers who go undercover to document the cruelty that animals on [...]
March 2011 marked the beginning of a preemptive lawsuit, with 83 plaintiffs joining forces against corporate giant Monsanto. Florida Organic Growers, a nonprofit organic certification and sustainable farming outreach group based in Gainesville, joined the fight in July. The 83 plaintiffs, representing a coalition of more than 270,000 farmers, are filing this lawsuit against Monsanto out of fear.
Progress Energy’s disastrous do-it-yourself upgrade to the Crystal River nuclear plant was such a risky idea that the company’s own internal report warned against it.
The company’s lack of expertise and experience “outweigh strengths and opportunities,” the report said. “Those weaknesses cannot be changed to strengths in sufficient time to plan and implement” the project.
The report’s [...]
In the face of budget cuts and apathetic politicians, independent researchers fight to save Florida’s springs.
The warning came in an email to the supervisor of a complicated project at the Crystal River nuclear plant.”I just want to reiterate my concern … ”It was March 9, 2009. To replace aging steam generators, Progress Energy was about to cut a big hole in the concrete building that shields the nuclear reactor.Charles Hovey [...]
Here’s what I was doing yesterday…-TR
The Society of Environmental Journalists’ Miami energy tour forged forward today, pursuing better understanding of South Florida’s energy options in spite of a disinvitation by local nuclear reactor operator Florida Power & Light.
The SEJ group did not visit FPL’s Turkey Point nuclear plant because the utility, following the nuclear meltdown [...]
I’m in Miami at the Society of Environmental Journalists conference, and I thought I’d post a few of the places I’m looking forward to revisiting for my SEJ friends and colleagues. The following are excerpts from The Explorer’s Guide to South Florida, which I co-authored with Sandra Friend. Fair warning: if something sounds interesting, please [...]
Federal regulators on Wednesday cited oil company BP PLC and two other companies – Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton – for alleged safety and environmental violations stemming from last year’s rig explosion and massive Gulf oil spill.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/12/bp-2-other-companies-cite_n_1007949.html?ir=Green
Tour of a productive no-till (weedless) garden ; short documentary about positive adjustments in a post peak oil wolrd; discussion group(s). Light lunch provided.
Saturday, October 15 · 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Gaia Grove
21255 NW CR 237
Brooker, FL
DIRECTIONS/MAP: http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&pc=FACEBK&mid=8100&rtp=adr.%7Epos.29.8873596_-82.3848724_Gaia+Grove+Eco-Camp+%26+Learning+Center_21255+SW+CR+237%252
ABOUT ALACHUA TRANSITION INITIATIVE: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alachua-Transition-Iniative/122998017805941?sk=info (Remember to “LIKE” the page!)
ABOUT TRANSITION INITIATIVE http://www.transitionnetwork.org/support/what-transition-initiative
via
The Hippodrome Theatre has gotten into some monkey business, and Nim Chimpsky is the source of it.
Starting today, the documentary film “Project Nim” will screen at the Hippodrome Cinema and run until Thursday. The film, directed by James Marsh, tells the story of Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee who was raised and nurtured like a human [...]
Downward Dog, Upward Fog
By Meryl Davids Landau
What a treat to find a book that gently guides those of us who know there’s more to life but haven’t found the route to it…. Meryl Davids Landau has penned a fictional novel reflecting her own quest to a spiritual life that celebrates our personal power rather than [...]
In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP sought and obtained permission to use dispersants, detergent-like compounds, to break up the 200 million gallons of Louisiana sweet crude, into tiny droplets that would mix throughout the water column, trying to lessen the immediate impact of the oil slick on fragile coastal ecosystems.
via Impact [...]
As construction begins on the Gainesville biomass facility, there is one important aspect that I believe has not been adequately scrutinized nor explained: The claim that the plant’s energy will be produced by burning wood waste left over from forestry and tree-clearing operations
Has the real volume and availability of this material and the economics of [...]
April 30, 2011
Homestead, Fla. – – At a mock emergency evacuation followed by a press conference today, diverse local groups and citizens expressed their concerns about the public health, financial and environmental risks that Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) costly proposal to build two additional nuclear reactors imposes on South Florida residents. The concerns voiced [...]
The day after the Florida House passed a bill to ban implementation of water quality standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration, Gov. Rick Scott on Friday asked the agency to rescind a January 2009 determination that the federal rules are necessary for Florida.
Opponents of the federal requirement say the state is better equipped [...]
Aubrey Hampton: An Organic Legacy for our Future
By Trish Riley
Our world has lost a treasured pioneer who spent his life not only fighting chemical contamination and animal injustices, but forging a safer path into the future for both humans and animals. Aubrey Hampton died in Tampa Florida on May 9.
I had the great pleasure to [...]
Studies have shown that eating locally grown food improves health, supports local economies, promotes the biodiversity of crops and reduces the environmental impact of shipping food around the world. Here are 5 convenient ways to eat local in Gainesville (and elsewhere).
Slow Food Gainesville is going to Cedar Key, and you’re invited! You will learn about the sustainable and innovative clam industry in Cedar Key through various activities, including:
Presentation by Leslie Sturmer at the FWS Marine Lab
Tour of the clam facilities
Potluck dinner at Peg and Russ Hall’s home, featuring local clams. Everyone is invited to bring [...]
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