The bad Everglades bill HB 7065 is headed toward a final vote in the Florida House. Your voice on this issue is more important now than ever, please take a moment to call AND email your representative right away.
Politely ask your Representative to vote NO on HB 7065. Please click here to look up their Tallahassee phone number.
After you make your call, send a letter saying NO to HB 7065 using our easy email form. It is important to get Floridians from all parts of the state engaged in this effort; please share this urgent alert on Facebook and Twitter - see the share buttons at the bottom of this email for quick posting options.
Thank you for all that you do.
CLICK HERE TO SEND YOUR LETTER
HB 7065 - Everglades Improvement and Management:
- Puts a cap on the amount of money sugar growers pay to build and operation projects to clean up polluted water coming off their fields.
- Seriously weakens enforcement of an important law that currently outlaws discharges that contribute to violating water quality standards.
Audubon and other organizations have objected to these changes to the Everglades Forever Act. We are hoping for some serious discussions about increasing the amount of money sugar growers pay to clean up the pollution coming off their land. We have also objected to the part of the bill that nullifies enforcement of discharge permits. This section of the bill seems deliberately written to eliminate the basis of a recent legal challenge to three discharge permits for the dirtiest Everglades farms.
The Senate companion bill - SB 768 - has none of the offending provisions.
Why Your Voice is Important
The sugar industry has dozens of lobbyists.Money has been given to legislators and political committees. Many members of the Florida House have already made up their mind on this bill. Some have been, by their own admission, heavily lobbied by the sugar industry. And the bill enjoys the support of key legislative leaders.
The environmental lobby, on the other hand, has to depend on you.
