apreston

At VoteWater we’ve got a new name and new leadership. But we’re dealing with the same old problem: Florida’s waters are in bad shape, and things are getting worse. Manatees are dying in droves as seagrass dies off, some of it killed by blue-green algal blooms which block the sunlight. Red tide decimated marine life along much of Florida’s Gulf coast this year. The Piney Point disaster dumped a year’s worth of nitrogen into Tampa Bay in just 10 days. Sewage spills continue to plague many regions, and our springs are being pumped dry for profit. The only way to change this is to identify, elect and support leaders who put the well-being of our fragile waters first. That is [...]

Giving Tuesday is a time when people around the world hope their dollars can make a difference. This year, your generosity can be a game-changer for Florida’s imperiled waters, and all who rely on them. Bullsugar.org is now VoteWater, and with the new name comes a renewed focus. We will fight political corruption by ending the systemic pollution and mismanagement of Florida’s waterways. We will educate voters and support candidates who’ll stand up to the entrenched interests that thwart change. For ultimately, all our problems — from red tide to blue-green algae, dying manatees and dead seagrass, tainted springs and polluted lakes — are political problems, requiring political solutions. But we can’t do this alone. Your support — your donations [...]

As of today, Bullsugar is now officially VoteWater. The name change reflects our renewed commitment identifying and supporting candidates who’ll fight for clean water and stand up to the powerful interests that impede change. Until now our focus and our name has revolved around the depredations of Florida’s powerful sugar industry. But the seagrass die-off and manatee deaths in the Indian River Lagoon, Piney Point and the threat posed by the phosphate industry, the fight to save Florida’s iconic springs and other battles demonstrate that our waters are under siege in virtually every corner of the state. We’ll retain all the passion and brashness you’ve come to expect from Bullsugar. But we realize that ultimately, all the challenges facing Florida’s [...]

Big Sugar? Who needs ‘em? And who needs their money? Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick came out on top in the neck-and-neck race in the South Florida 20th Congressional District Democratic primary this month, edging Dale Holness by just five votes. Her win was notable not just for the small margin of victory in the heavily Democratic district, where a primary win all but guarantees success in the general election. It’s the first time Cherfilus-McCormick, who challenged the late incumbent Alcee Hastings in 2018 and 2020, won an election. She said she’ll become the first Haitian American Democrat to serve in Congress. Then there’s the fact she won without taking a dime of Big Sugar money — even though the 20th District is [...]

It could take up to a week before we know whether Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick or Dale Holness prevailed in the Democratic primary in Florida’s 20th District. But while we don’t yet know who won, we do know who lost: Big Sugar. Cherfilus-McCormick was one of six Democratic candidates in the primary to tell VoteWater they wouldn’t accept campaign cash from Florida’s powerful sugar industry. If she wins, she’ll be among the few members of Congress from Florida who have refused money from Big Sugar — the cabal of sugar barons who have maintained a stranglehold on Florida politics and politicians for generations. During the campaign, Cherfilus-McCormick told the Sun-Sentinel newspaper she opposed burning sugarcane fields before harvest and supported congressional hearings [...]

As Florida’s water crisis deepens, we need clean-water champions more than ever — elected officials willing to stand up to the powerful interests which for too long have thwarted real progress. Omari Hardy, a former state legislator running for the U.S. House in Florida’s 20th Congressional District, has the look of a fighter. He’s VoteWater’s choice for the seat, formerly held by the late Alcee Hastings. Hardy was among several candidates who responded to VoteWater’s survey by saying they would not take money from Florida’s powerful sugar industry. Several elaborated on their position, criticizing the industry’s political clout and its refusal to end the practice of sugarcane burning, which inflicts harm on the Glades communities south of Lake Okeechobee. The [...]

It’s no exaggeration to call this a tectonic shift in the district that is home to U.S. Sugar. Nine candidates pledge not to accept Big Sugar money. Traditionally, few Florida candidates or public officials on either side of the aisle have been willing to stand up to Florida’s notorious sugar industry. But in the race for U.S. House District 20, we’re witnessing a tectonic shift. Not only are some politicians willing to buck “Big Sugar” — they may be gaining ground for it. Last week the Sun-Sentinel newspaper endorsed Omari Hardy, a first-term state representative from West Palm Beach, for the seat formerly held by the late Alcee Hastings. Hardy checks many of the progressive boxes in the deep-blue district, [...]

Earlier this year as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers considered options for its new Lake Okeechobee “playbook,” Florida’s east and west coasts stood united. Together they said: Damaging discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries must be curtailed. And more water must go south — as Mother Nature intended. The unanimity helped move the needle, as the Corps selected “Plan CC” as its baseline model for the new Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM). It was the most balanced plan overall and a good starting point for further optimization. But then the finger-pointing began. Some on the west coast insisted more water must go east. East coast interests protested. Talk of sending water south seemed to go out [...]

In April, then-state Rep. Omari Hardy did the right thing. As the Florida Legislature rammed through a new law expanding the "right to farm" — and indemnifying the powerful sugar industry from lawsuits related to sugarcane burning — Hardy stood in the way. In subcommittee hearings, the Palm Beach County representative sponsored a series of amendments — all of them voted down — that sought to strip the bill of its many bad elements. Hardy objected primarily to Senate Bill 88’s addition of "particle emissions" to the list of protected farming practices. The black ash and smoke that wafts over the Glades communities when Big Sugar is burning the fields to prepare for harvest is suspected of contributing to health [...]

When the sugarcane burns, many in the Glades communities struggle to breathe. But mounting evidence points to the need to extinguish those fires for good. For decades Big Sugar has plagued the Glades with “black snow” and health problems caused by the burning of the cane fields to prepare the crop for harvest. And earlier this year when the Florida Legislature passed new “right to farm” legislation it looked like the industry was being given a green light to continue the harmful practice for as long as it wants. But thanks to a blockbuster new investigation and a major lawsuit wending its way through the courts — along with support from Bullsugar supporters — the toxic tide may finally be [...]