Grist | Topics | 127 Results

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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Opt liver Florida utility's green energy program died a predictable death	David Roberts	04 Aug 2008	Gristmill
The sad fate of Florida Power & Light's green energy program should be instructive. Of course the program had to spend a ton of money on marketing -- it was asking ratepayers for charitable donations to a cause most of them weren't familiar with and didn't care much about. Given that most ratepayers weren't eager to educate themselves on how they could spend more money on electricity, a great deal of marketing was required. The obvious thing to do is to make t ...
Topics: electricity, energy, Florida, utilities (all these topics)

EPA-holes When pleasing industry compulsively takes precedence over public interest	Tom Philpott	31 Jul 2008	Gristmill
It's gratifying to see EPA chief Stephen Johnson writhing under pressure to resign in disgrace. The agency is being hounded by lawsuits from states while Johnson faces perjury accusations from Congress. My question: what took so long? Documenting the agency's recent betrayals of the public interest would take a book, not a blog post. Myself, I'm still seething over last year's decision to approve methyl iodide -- a powerfully carcinogenic substance -- for use on stra ...
Topics: Florida, politics, Stephen Johnson, toxics, US EPA (all these topics)

The Grass Is Half Empty EPA and Florida sucking at Everglades cleanup, says judge		29 Jul 2008	News
Posted at 4:57 PM on 29 Jul 2008 Florida and the U.S. EPA have been skewered by a federal judge for their Everglades cleanup efforts (or rather, lack thereof). In 2003, Florida pushed back a deadline for reducing phosphorus pollution in the River of Grass from 2006 to 2016. By doing so, the state "violated its fundamental commitment and promise to protect the Everglades," U.S. District Judge Alan Gold ru ...
Topics: Florida, habitat protection, litigation, national parks, news, regulation, US EPA, water pollution, wetlands (all these topics)

Phosphorus For Us Sick of algae-polluted water, Florida groups sue EPA		18 Jul 2008	News
Posted at 1:55 PM on 18 Jul 2008 A flock of Florida green groups has sued the U.S. EPA, seeking state and national water-pollution standards for fertilizer runoff from factory farms. Nitrogen and phosphorus flow from agricultural operations into many Florida waterways (among other places), triggering algae blooms which suck oxygen from the water and kill off marine life. Exposure to the algae, which contaminates many drinkin ...
Topics: agriculture, Florida, litigation, news, US EPA, water pollution (all these topics)

Crist cross Was Florida guv's big Everglades deal an attempt to keep him in the running for VP?	Kate Sheppard	25 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Over on The Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capitol blog, Keith Johnson raises the question of whether Charlie Crist's $1.75 billion deal to buy 300 square miles of the Everglades from U.S. Sugar Corp. was timed to keep his chance at the VP spot alive, as some Floridians have suggested. Last week Grist noted that Crist's enviro cred may be at stake now that he's backed John McCain's call for off-shore drilling. Tuesday's announcement of the deal for the Evergl ...
Topics: elections, Florida, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics)

Pass the Sugar, Sugar Florida will buy out sugar company to restore Everglades		24 Jun 2008	News
Posted at 3:22 PM on 24 Jun 2008 Nearly 300 square miles of sugar plantation in the Everglades will once again become marsh, as Florida Gov. Charlie Crist announced Tuesday that the state will buy the land from U.S. Sugar Corp. If all goes to plan, the $1.75 billion deal may be the largest environmental restoration in the history of the United States. Environmentalists have long lamented the sugar industry's role in ...
Topics: agriculture, Florida, habitat protection, industrial ag, national parks, news, progress, wetlands (all these topics)

Keeping tabs on Tampa Florida city takes another smart(ish) step	Katharine Wroth	13 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Yesterday, the Tampa city council gave preliminary approval to a plan that offers incentives for green building; they're expected to formally approve it later this month. We mentioned in our rockin' Smart(ish) Cities series that this was in the works -- nice to see it pursued, and heartening to see such places taking green(ish) steps.
Topics: Florida, green building, placemaking, urban planning (all these topics)

Trouble in paradise? McCain criticized during Florida trip for opposing funding for Everglades restoration	Kate Sheppard	09 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Visiting the Everglades has become de rigueur for presidential candidates hoping to shore up environmental cred in Florida, the nation's most populous swing state. But Republican presidential candidate John McCain's trip to the wetlands on Friday seemed to generate only bad publicity. Last year McCain opposed legislation that included funding for Everglades restoration and urged colleagues to let Bush's veto of the bill stand. And last week he didn't do a particul ...
Topics: Barack Obama, elections, Florida, John McCain, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics)

Is He Everglade to Be There McCain says he hearts Everglades, despite opposing bill with restoration funding		06 Jun 2008	News
Posted at 3:25 PM on 06 Jun 2008 Sen. John McCain swung through Florida last week, taking time for a boat tour of the Everglades on Friday. The Obama campaign promptly criticized McCain for his opposition last year to a water bill that included major funding for Everglades restoration. McCain said he would have supported a stand-alone Everglades bill, but the broader water bill was choc ...
Topics: Florida, habitat protection, John McCain, legislation, national parks, news, politics, presidential race 08, wetlands (all these topics)

Florida faces unfavorable tide New report calls for climate action, but not everyone's listening	Miles Grant	30 May 2008	Gristmill
With more coastline than any state in the lower 48 and about a tenth of its economy ($65 billion a year) based on tourism, Florida has more to lose than any other state from the threats of global warming. Rising sea levels creep closer to coastal development. Warmer tropics fuel stronger hurricanes. And higher ocean temperatures kill coral and harm fish populations, threatening the state's $4.5 billion sportfishing industry. Plenty of reasons that a report released y ...
Topics: climate, climate change impacts, Florida, habitat protection, legislation, severe weather, state politics (all these topics)

Fortune and Flame Why the Everglades is burning, and how we sucked it dry	Michael Grunwald	21 May 2008	Grist Feature
It's hard to believe, now that it's been overrun by 7 million residents and 7 jillion strip malls, but southern Florida was once America's last frontier. As late as 1880, the census recorded just 257 residents in a county covering most of the region -- because most of the region was a watery wilderness called the Everglades. Mapmakers weren't sure whether to draw it as land or water. Politic ...
Topics: Florida, habitat loss, news, sprawl, wetlands, wilderness (all these topics)

A Moment in the Sun How three Southeast cities are changing		14 May 2008	Grist Feature
For more on Southeast cities, see our full feature on sustainability initiatives underway in Atlanta. With rapid population growth and increased climate vulnerability, the Southeastern U.S. would seem a prime place for sustainability initiatives. But the area has been slow to cotton on to the greening trend. We chalk it up to the South's shade-shifting toward red in the last fifty years -- aligning with a party that was, unt ...
Topics: climate, Florida, green building, placemaking, Smartish Cities, special series, Tennessee, urban planning, Virginia (all these topics)

Easy Rider Transit ridership up across U.S.		12 May 2008	News
Posted at 3:57 PM on 12 May 2008 Transit ridership has jumped across the U.S. as folks get tired of paying at the pump. From January to March, transit ridership jumped 10 percent in Boston, 8 percent in both Los Angeles and Denver, and 7.2 percent in the Twin Cities. In Philadelphia, transit ridership in March 2008 was up 11 percent from March 2007; in April, ridership in south Florida was an impressive 28 percent above the year before. "Nobody b ...
Topics: Boston, Florida, Los Angeles, news, Philadelphia, placemaking, public transportation (all these topics)

Trouble in Paradise Ouster of Sierra Club's Florida leaders stirs up a storm of controversy	Emily Gertz	06 May 2008	Grist Feature
Things get stormy in Florida. Photo: Ali Nishan It's got all the signs of a bad breakup: anger, recriminations, and friends taking sides. But this rift doesn't involve bitter former sweeties; it's between members of one of the nation's largest and most influential environmental groups. And it's happening in a high-profile, wealthy state with complex environmental problems, whe ...
Topics: environmental movement, Florida, Sierra Club (all these topics)

The Clorox debacle continues Sierra Club removes leadership of its Florida chapter	Guest author	28 Mar 2008	Gristmill
The following is a guest essay from Peter Montague1, executive director of the Environmental Research Foundation. ----- The Sierra Club's national board voted on March 25 to remove the leaders of the Club's 35,000-member Florida chapter, and to suspend the chapter for four years. It was the first time in the Club's 116-year history that such action has been taken against a state chapter. The leadership of the Florida chapter had been highly critical of the national ...
Topics: business, Florida, green cleaning, greenwashing, Sierra Club (all these topics)

Should we laugh or cry? Florida Power & Light on wind power	Sean Casten	13 Mar 2008	Gristmill
Florida Power & Light is fairly notorious as a utility that embraces competition so long as it doesn't happen in their service territory. On the regulatory side, they have worked pretty hard to make sure that no one can build power in their state except themselves. But on the unregulated side, their sister company FPL Energy has been one of the leading installers of wind turbines. (Not coincidentally, you will find that they tend not to do projects anywhere near F ...
Topics: energy, Florida, renewable energy, wind power (all these topics)

South Fla. power outage	David Roberts	26 Feb 2008	Gristmill
There's seems to be some confusion out there about exactly what happened in South Florida today, but as far as I can tell, some power lines went out at a substation, which caused a nuclear plant to automatically shut down, which caused power outages for upwards of 3 million people. Nice grid. I liked this headline: "Nuclear plant shutdown stops Florida." Somebody crank Florida back up again! And also? The headline writers at DowJones need to talk to the r ...
Topics: electricity grid, energy, Florida, nuclear power (all these topics)

Hiss hiss hooray Reporter waxes poetic on pythons	Sarah K. Burkhalter	22 Feb 2008	Gristmill
Grist's take on potential python proliferation is, of course, unsurpassable -- but if it were to be surpassed, it would be by this article in the San Francisco Chronicle. Gotta love a paper that gives its reporter some editorial leeway for humor. Some of my favorite tidbits: Biologists estimate 30,000 nonnative giant snakes live in the Everglades, perhaps more. Some have begun appearing in areas outside the park, alarming biologists and also people who don't car ...
Topics: Florida, national parks, wildlife (all these topics)

South Florida <del Twenty-seven yoots arrested protesting construction of <del	David Roberts	20 Feb 2008	Gristmill
A while back, Al Gore wondered publicly why young people aren't out protesting in front of coal plants. Well, here you go: On Monday, a group of young people chained themselves together to prevent construction of a South Florida power plant -- 27 of them were arrested. [UPDATE: According to Matt in comments, it was a gas plant, not a coal plant. Should have read closer.] Those Palm Beach cops don't look very friendly (pictures from Rising Tide): That takes ...
Topics: coal, energy, Florida, grassroots activism, politics (all these topics)

Give and Lake Fast-growing Atlanta loses rights to major source of drinking water		06 Feb 2008	News
Posted at 3:27 PM on 06 Feb 2008 An 18-year water war between Georgia, Alabama, and Florida has come to an end of sorts: A federal appellate court has voided an Army Corps of Engineers agreement that would have given Georgia the rights to nearly 25 percent of federal reservoir Lake Lanier as a source of drinking water for metro Atlanta. Alabama and Florida had sued over the plan, saying it would siphon off water t ...
Topics: Alabama, Army Corps of Engineers, Florida, Georgia, news, placemaking, urban planning, water conflicts (all these topics)

Soakin' Up the Sunshine State McCain wins Florida after endorsement from pro-climate governor		29 Jan 2008	News
Posted at 8:10 PM on 29 Jan 2008 John McCain has won the Florida Republican primary, a race that pundits prophesy may decide the GOP nominee for president. Environmental issues may have played a part; McCain got a boost in the state when he was endorsed by popular and climate-conscious Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. In pre-race campaigning, McCain took heat from main rival Mitt Romney for his pro-environm ...
Topics: elections, Florida, John McCain, Mitt Romney, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics)

Republican primary in Florida	David Roberts	29 Jan 2008	Gristmill
In case you hadn't heard, there's a Republican primary in Florida today. It has largely come down to a Romney/McCain contest, the polls have been bouncing all over the place, it's utterly impossible to predict what will happen, and it's likely that whoever wins -- particularly if it's a sizeable win -- will secure the Republican nomination. So it's a big deal. Naturally I won't/can't endorse anyone, but just considering things from the generic green voter's perspectiv ...
Topics: climate, elections, energy, Florida, John McCain, Mitt Romney, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics)

Charlie Crist Superstar An interview with Florida's governor, a Republican climate crusader	Amanda Griscom Little	14 Jan 2008	Grist Feature
Charlie Crist. Photo:Steven Murphy/WireImage Meet Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a surprising blend of Grand Ol' Party and bleeding-heart greenie. As a Republican, he defends the Bush administration's environmental record, but he also counts among his personal heroes Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who wrote an entire book condemning Bush as "America's worst environmental pre ...
Topics: climate, coal, energy, Florida, interview, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

Fire in Florida Explosion at Florida chemical plant causes deaths, evacuations		19 Dec 2007	News
Posted at 1:47 PM on 19 Dec 2007 An explosion at a chemical plant that manufactures fuel additives and solvents has rocked the Jacksonville, Fla., area, forcing evacuations and causing an estimated three deaths. The blast at T2 Labs -- described by those at the scene as a "hellish inferno" and "a great ball of fire in the air" -- also knocked out two of three generating units at an electric utilit ...
Topics: Florida, insanity, news, toxics (all these topics)

McEducation Why the Happy Meals-for-good-grades scheme deserves an 'F'	Guest author	12 Dec 2007	Gristmill
The following is a guest essay by Kate Adamick, a New York-based consultant and lecturer on matters relating to school food reform and an advisor to the Orfalea Fund in Santa Barbara, Calif.; and Ann Cooper, the "Renegade Lunch Lady" and director of nutrition services for the Berkeley Unified School District. ----- McDonald's apparently isn't content with strategically locating its franchises near schools across America, operating food outlets within ped ...
Topics: parenting, food, education, business, Florida (all these topics)

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