Gov. Rick Scott blaming Obama Administration for algae bloom (to hide his culpability)

[groundloop]

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/article87472997.html



Just in time for the July 4 weekend, a massive algae bloom sprouted on Florida’s Treasure Coast last week, fouling the waters, estuaries and beaches and posing the threat of further damage to the entire ecosystem around Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades.

These are the first signs of a potentially larger disaster that environmentalists long predicted. Gov. Rick Scott and state water managers were apparently caught unaware, even though they were repeatedly warned this was bound to occur.

The governor’s approach falls short of dealing with the fundamental problem of discharges of polluted water from Lake O. To compound his lame response, he resorted to his usual dodge when problems arise on his watch — blame someone else. Mr. Scott accused the Obama administration of failing to act on this issue, but Mr. Scott himself contributed to the crisis.

Since taking office in 2011, Gov. Scott has repeatedly assailed federal clean-water standards. He blocked a plan championed by environmentalists — and by his predecessor, Charlie Crist — to buy sugar industry land south of Lake O for water storage. And it was this governor, together with the Legislature, who agreed to a sneaky plan that diverts funding approved by voters to buy land that could be used for water storage to other, non-environmental projects.

Environmentalists have been warning for years that the state’s water policies in South Florida were a disaster waiting to happen, and that other solutions were needed to stop the discharges from Lake Okeechobee that were fouling the state’s coastal areas. Now the disaster has arrived.

The algae blooms are the result of nutrient-laden pollutants flowing into the waters that flow east and west from Lake Okeechobee.

n Martin County, where the blooms appeared, the problem is exacerbated by aging sewage systems and septic tanks. Some experts believe that even if the lake’s discharges could be halted, human activities in the watershed would still produce algae blooms. Fixing this part will be a long-term project that requires state involvement and help from the federal government.

There can be no permanent solution, however, without finding a fix for the discharges from Lake O. The U.S. Corps of Engineers has spent $500 million since 2007 to reduce the risk of catastrophic failure around the 143-mile dike. More bolstering is underway, but this will take time. Beginning this weekend, the Corps of Engineers has reduced the discharges into Martin and St. Lucie counties, but this is only a stopgap measure.

That is why environmentalists have long fought to persuade the state to buy land south of the lake for a storage reservoir. Sending it east or west is bound to produce pollution along Florida’s coasts. The worst option of all at this time would be to send it south — the absence of a reservoir would produce a devastating effect in the Everglades.

Gov. Scott and state water managers should stop resisting efforts to build a reservoir south of the lake. The longer it takes them to accept that this is the best way to protect the region’s environment, the longer that environment will be in peril.

[monmouth4]

1. The sugar people are big supporters of his, a petition to impeach him is the only solution..n/t

[Stonepounder]

2. So long as Citizens United allows big money to buy their own private politician,

we won't see an end to this type if crap. Or until the human race goes down the drain from unchecked fracking, poisoned water, toxic food, extinction of honey bees, climate change, etc.

[klook]

3. If only the EPA would let them dump all the toxins they want

into the lake, the algae (and everything else) wouldn't be able to survive.

[lpbk2713]

4. All those millionaires are complaining about that shit on their beachfront property.

And Snott is pointing his gnarly finger in order to evade accountability.

[MariaThinks]

5. It's time to rally everyone who isn't a wingnut to vote Democratic

and vote out all current, stupid and corrupt republicans out of office in every branch of government and judicial bodies. Let's help the conservatives get back to their roots - get rid of all these hypocritical morons so that we can have realistic opposition and governance, like the founding fathers wanted.

[eggplant]

6. I'm fine with the wingnuts voting Democratic, too.

[MariaThinks]

11. they won't

[gregcrawford]

7. Worse than any verbal vomit...

... that spews from the mouth of the malignant spawn of an unholy union between Lurch and Uncle Fester, is the fact that a terrifying number of Floridians are so dirt stupid that they actually BELIEVE anything he says!

[eppur_se_muova]

8. What is it about Repugs that they *never* listen to warnings that make sense ?

But warn them that black helicopters from the UN are going to land and take away all their guns so Obama can be made President-for-life, and they'll be out protesting in the streets with creatively misspelled signs.

[ck4829]

13. "Warning" sounds like some word cooked up by liberals and the French to indoctrinate you and stuff

I think that about sums it up.

[GeorgeGist]

9. Republicans are good at proving ...

that government doesn't work.

[paleotn]

10. Could it be...

that there's far too many people / development / big Ag in South Florida for the ecosystem to handle? Create a reservoir south of Okeechobee and what's to stop it from filling up with non-point source Ag pollution and algae blooms?

[onethatcares]

12. the pRick

just received a $100,000.00 bribe from big sugar to his PAC. Do you think he even cares about water quality?

[RobertEarl]

14. My take

Lake Okeechobee is badly polluted. That is where the problem lies.

Why is the state of Florida allowing the 2nd largest lake in the US to become so polluted?

And what is causing the pollution?

Looking at a map, we see the Orlando area is north of the lake and water from Orlando flows south into the lake.

Orlando is one of the fastest growing areas in the state. It pumps massive amounts of water out of the ground and a large percentage of that water goes to flushing toilets and creating other sewage.

This is not natural. It is a manmade problem and it starts in and around Orlando and Disney world.

What Orlando has done is kick the can down the road. In real terms it is dumping its sewage on the land south of there and polluting the lake. The lake is a catch basin for the pollution coming from the north.

Now the people south of them are paying the price for the uncontrolled and improperly managed growth of Orlando.

It is not a federal problem, it is entirely a state problem.

Building more catch basins will not solve the problem. The flow into the lake must be cleaned up and that clean-up must start in Orlando.