From the Orlando Sentinel:

Legislators have two weeks left in their 2010 session to show Floridians they care about the environment. Or they can continue turning the session into an environmental turkey shoot.

That's dangerous sport in an election year. Poll after poll suggests Floridians consider themselves environmentalists. They hate sprawl, and care about quality-of-life issues. Legislators nevertheless have both barrels trained on the agency that regulates growth. And they've already fired off rounds at clean-energy initiatives, the state's premier land-preservation program and an effort to make water management districts more accountable.

In fact it's turning out to be one of the worst sessions for the environment on record — and don't be fooled into thinking otherwise just because a potentially disastrous plan to lift the state's offshore-drilling ban ran into opposition.

Its chief supporters, Dean Cannon in the House and Mike Haridopolos in the Senate, plan to pass it next year, when they're scheduled to take over their respective chambers.

Ugh. Here's a guide to staving off disaster:

Keep DCA alive. DCA's the state Department of Community Affairs. It's one of the few meaningful obstacles left in Florida to block the kind of development that local governments can't get enough of, but which growth-stressed residents don't want. DCA stiff-armed a developer's plan to build an oversized marina in an aquatic preserve frequented by manatees on the St. Johns River in Volusia County. It shaped rules preserving eagle habitat for large developments near Lake Tohopekaliga in Osceola County. And this year, it ripped apart blueprints for the unneeded, 23,000-home Farmton development in remote sections of Volusia and Brevard counties.

House Republicans, led by Mr. Cannon, want to scuttle DCA, however. They've tried dismantling it. This year, they're refusing to reauthorize it. And next year, after the election, look for them to try killing or gutting it. If only they'd renew it: That would send a convincing message to voters that while legislators don't always appreciate DCA's reach, they get its purpose. And it would send a powerful message that Florida doesn't need Hometown Democracy, the ill-advised citizen check on development.

Go green. With renewable energy legislation stalled in Congress, it's up to the states to pick up the slack. To its credit the Florida Senate keeps trying, promoting a bill that requires utilities to generate 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020. But even though the requirement would help diversify the state's economy — a goal of both legislative chambers — the House opposes mandating targets. Too costly, it contends.

So too, according to many in the Legislature, may be the state's solar rebate program. Since June alone, almost 8,000 people have applied for rebates that pay up to $20,000 for home solar systems. The number of solar contractors in the state has increased almost five-fold since the program began in 2006. But the program — and those fledgling businesses — are on life support. The state's gaping budget deficit may justify cutting the program's $14.4 million budget. But don't eliminate it.

Preserve Florida's lands and protect its waters. Though some environmentally rich tracts threatened by development could be purchased at bargain basement prices this year , the House's budget doesn't fund Florida Forever. And it's fighting efforts in the Senate to undo last year's legislative outrage that let a few bureaucrats decide major water withdrawals from the aquifer — and away from public view.

Both are shortsighted views that ultimately will shortchange Florida.

For more information and to take action on behalf of reauthorizing the DCA, click here.