The Green New Deal may have a hoaky name but at least it’s a beginning, an attempt to push back against a republic of insects and grass, inviting debate in the face of indefensible Republican inaction.
environment
Florida Senate Passes Bill Prohibiting Local Governments From Regulating Plastic Straws
On a 24-15 vote, the Senate imposed a moratorium on plastic-straw bans, the latest example of the constant tug-of-war between the Legislature and cities and counties over local regulations.
Hikers, Campers, and the Limits of Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace seems to extend only to the easily visible: trash, toilet paper, bodily functions, and so forth. Anything you can’t see with the naked eye — like sweat, detergent, sunblock, mosquito repellent, pesticides, and other chemicals — seems to get a pass.
Flagler County Approves Manatee Protection Plan With Speed Zones on Intracoastal
The county has been under mandate to develop a plan since 2006, when state and federal authorities halted issuing permits for boating slips on the Intracoastal Waterway, where seven manatees have been killed by boats since 2006.
In a Decisive Shift, Palm Coast Will Oppose Fracking On and Offshore, Citing Environment
Abandoning its silence and tacit nod to fracking, the Palm Coast City Council will forcefully oppose hydraulic fracturing in a resolution, citing water and environmental protection.
Two Sisters and a Solar-Electric Boat, on a 9-Day Journey for a Cause on ICW, Dock in Palm Coast
Nancy and Paula Frainetti are spending nine days aboard a solar-aided electric boat from Miami to Jacksonville to raise awareness and money for breast cancer–and for electric boating.
Trash Bandits: Sheriff Looking for Rogues Who Dumped 18 Tons of Tires Off Old Kings Road
The 18 to 19 tons of use tires (37,000 pounds) were dumped off North Old Kings Road, between Matanzas Woods Parkway and Princess Place Preserve. Flagler government removed them.
County Rejects One Jumbo Cell Tower, Approves Another and Hedges On Third
The Flagler commission was responding to concerns about the height and visibility of three proposed communications towers rising between 320 and 350 feet–more than twice the allowable size under county rules.
Split Florida Conservation Commission Approves Letting Hunters Kill 10% of Bear Population in 4 Regions
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission cleared the killing of at least 320 black bears for two to seven days in October, the first bear-hunting season in two decades.
Permitted Hunters Outnumber Florida Black Bears 6-to-1 as Killing Season Nears
Florida’s October hunt has drawn almost 1,800 hunters against a black bear quota of 320, in parts of the state where the killing will be allowed.