The US Coast Guard Auxiliary facility at the Cocohatchee River Marina in North Naples, Fla., seen from the water. (Photo: USCG Auxiliary)
Today is the 28th day of the Trump government shutdown.
Jan. 18, 2019, by David Silverberg
The Trump government shutdown has hit Southwest Florida’s US Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 96, based on the Cocohatchee River and Wiggins Pass in North Naples.
The Auxiliary is a volunteer arm of the Coast Guard that assists it in meeting its many missions. Typical Auxiliary activities include boating safety training, patrolling, classroom instruction, community outreach and search and rescue. Nationally, it has 26,000 members who serve in 835 local units.
In the immediate aftermath of the shutdown, all Auxiliary activities were suspended and members were not allowed to take any actions that required members to leave home or expend any Coast Guard funds, according to Hatchcover, the official publication of Flotilla 96.
Normal Auxiliary activities like vessel examinations, partner visitations, safe boating classes and community relations appearances were put on hold.
However, on Jan. 11 Vice Admiral Daniel Abel, the Coast Guard’s deputy commandant for operations, authorized Auxiliary volunteer activities such as meetings at the flotilla, district or division levels, recreational boating safety outreach, and public education, to “proceed in accordance with the Auxiliary Manual as long as there is no obligation of Coast Guard funds.”
As a result, Auxiliary members are working to make up for lost time and preparing for full operations once the shutdown ends and meetings and classes can resume, according to George Lehner, the Flotilla’s public affairs officer.
“Unfortunately, discretionary operational activities are not yet permitted, as they require funding from the Coast Guard,” Commander John Tyson, the flotilla staff officer for operations, told members on Jan. 13. “It looks like we will be off the water (unless the Station [at Fort Myers Beach] calls us out) until a continuing resolution funding the Department of Homeland Security has been approved.”
Ryan Fisher, the US Army official who oversees the Corps of Engineers, speaking at the 34th Annual Everglades Coalition Conference at Hawks Cay Resort in Duck Key, Fla., on Saturday, Jan. 12. (Photo by Zack Bennet for The Daily Mail)
Today is day 27 of the Trump government shutdown
Jan. 17, 2019 by David Silverberg
Southwest Florida could be on the path to environmental renewal—but White House decisions are threatening its brightening plans and prospects.
On the positive side:
Ron DeSantis (R) has clearly heard the call and responded to the area’s (and all of Florida’s) environmental needs with what are widely regarded as bold proposals that have drawn praise across the board. On Jan. 10 he issued executive orders that:
Provide $2.5 billion over the next four years for Everglades restoration and protection of water resources;
Establish a Blue-Green Algae Task Force for the next five years to examine and expedite reduction of algae blooms;
Immediately start the next phase of the Everglades Agricultural Area Storage Reservoir Project design and ensuring that the US Army Corps of Engineers approves the project according to schedule;
Create an Office of Environmental Accountability and Transparency to organize and direct environmental research and analysis and coordinate government actions;
Appoint a Chief Science Officer to coordinate and prioritize scientific data, research, monitoring and analysis.
After eight years of environmental neglect and disparagement by his predecessor, Rick Scott, these were bold proposals indeed.
Prof. Bill Mitsch
Dovetailing with DeSantis’ proposals, closer to home Prof. Bill Mitsch, a world-class wetlands expert at Florida Gulf Coast University, revealed both the cause of red tide and a proposed cure at a lecture he delivered on Jan. 10:
Mitsch’s research revealed that the chief culprit feeding red tide was nitrate fertilizer—after years of debate and finger-pointing, the first time the source had been so authoritatively identified;
Also contributing to red tide is nitrate-laden rainfall, much of it caused by cars using I-75. Additionally, leaking septic tanks and pollution flowing from the Mississippi River drifting across the Gulf of Mexico feed the naturally-occurring Karenia brevis organisms.
To overcome this pollution and prevent future red tides, or at least mitigate their impact, Mitsch asserted that research has shown existing or newly-created wetlands can remove much of the pollution. Mitsch calls this “wetlaculture”—deliberately cultivated wetlands. What is more, he argued that it can be done in a commercially sustainable way that benefits both farmers and the environment. Experiments to prove the concept are already under way and can be seen at a site in the northwest corner of Naples’ Freedom Park.
The site of experimental water-cleaning “mesocosms” (the tufts of grass in tubs behind the fence) in Naples’ Freedom Park. (Photo by author)
Analysis
Both DeSantis’ political program and Mitsch’s scientific proposal are promising ideas that could have a major, long-term positive impact. The large-scale success of both, however, rest on a major need: funding. And when it comes to looking to the federal government for that funding, it may not be there.
While DeSantis’ pledge of $2.5 billion for Everglades restoration is commendable, he was not specific in stating where he was going to get the money. He just directed the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Health, Visit Florida and the Department of Economic Opportunity to “secure” it over the next four years.
There’s nothing wrong with that; such details always need to be hashed out once an idea is publicly unveiled. When he presents his first budget to the legislature we’ll see how he intends to implement it.
But it seems unlikely that the entire $2.5 billion can come from state coffers. DeSantis is no doubt counting on a portion of it to come from the federal government.
Mitsch’s idea similarly requires an initial investment. While wetlaculture holds great promise, he cautioned that it takes time.
“Wetland restoration and creation are not easy,” Mitsch warned in his lecture. “They require attention to Mother Nature (self-design) and Father Time (projects take time to reach their potential).” Indeed, under Mitsch’s proposal, restorative wetlands would take 10 years to mature before they could be “flipped” and farmed for the next five years after which they would be flipped again.
Further, the Mitsch proposal must be implemented on a massive scale. He estimates that it would take 100,000 acres of wetlaculture to ensure clean water to the Everglades—14 times more than is currently included in reservoir plans.
Mitsch admitted that creating these kinds of cleansing wetlands would take money to accomplish and while he didn’t mention figures, he also said he didn’t trust the state government to do what was necessary.
“We need the feds to keep an eye on our state government,” he said.
Indeed, such a plan, while very attractive for many reasons, would take a significant initial investment that only the federal government can provide.
Commentary
While both plans finally come to grips with south Florida’s environmental crisis they both need federal money and they’re both being proposed just at the moment when the federal government itself is in crisis (and closed, as of this writing).
What is more, President Donald Trump’s insistence on a border wall is already having an impact on Everglades restoration.
In one instance, Ryan Fisher, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for public works, who oversees the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), told Britain’s Daily Mail that if Trump were to declare a national emergency to build his border wall, it would take funds from non-essential projects like Everglades restoration. “’Look, we’re facing a national security issue. We’re waiting for more orders.” he told reporter Zak Bennet.
“I shouldn’t make any comments on the wall because I might find that I’m contradicting myself as soon as I check the news on my phone,” Fisher told the 34th Annual Everglades Coalition Conference at Hawks Cay Resort in Duck Key, Fla., on Saturday, Jan. 12. “But the president has asked us whether, if he declares the wall an emergency, we’d be ready. We assured him we’d be ready.”
At that point “We would need to decide whether other civil works projects are not essential to national defense,” Fisher said as some activists grumbled.
Emergency border wall funding would also take disaster recovery funds from Florida, Puerto Rico, Texas and California, all still recovering from local disasters.
Even DeSantis had to dissent from that scenario, his closeness to Trump notwithstanding.
“We have people counting on that [funding],” he told reporters. “If they backfill it immediately after the government opens, that’s fine but I don’t want that to be where that money is not available for us.”
Conclusion
Southwest Floridians should not think that they’re unaffected by both the government shutdown and Trump’s obsessive pursuit of a border wall. These are clear examples of the local damage his behavior and erratic decisionmaking is causing.
Just days after they were proposed, Trump cast uncertainty onto environmental solutions that Southwest Florida desperately needs. It’s up to Florida’s officials and citizens to ensure that this flawed thinking doesn’t go from the conceptual stage to the point where it kills essential funding and the damage on the ground becomes real, physical and permanent.
LobbyUp, a legislative tracking tool first developed in Arkansas, is now available in Florida as part of the company’s 14-state expansion. The software application allows a user to track all filed legislation and search by keyword, legislator, legislative committee and state office directory. It also allows users to find their legislators and see live streams of legislative meetings and sessions.
These powerful tools are being offered to the public for free. LobbyUp offers professional lobbyists, associations and advocates additional tools and options.
“We’re extremely excited to expand our coverage area and look forward to being nationwide. This is the first time everyday citizens will have the same tools as professional lobbyists. It’s a lot of power in the palm of your hand,” said Bradley Phillips, President and CEO of LobbyUp.
The Arkansas-based company has been in business for nine years and gained fame in the state when it was downloaded over 50,000 times. The new nationwide free app is available for Android and iOS.
“Legislative tracking tools typically cost thousands of dollars, so citizens have never had this kind of access. With LobbyUp, users literally have a window into the legislative process. A state can pass three or four thousand laws in three months. Our users can search and see all of these bills, their sponsors and how legislators voted on a bill for free.
“For a low fee of 99 cents users can receive notifications when bills change status. We have an advanced tool that allows the user to enter multiple keywords and see all bills that contain those keywords. People have never had access to these types of tools for this kind of price,” said Phillips.
The company also sells LobbyUp Pro, a program designed for professional advocates, for $779 per year. It contains basic tracking tools but offers unique features such as automatic reports, daily agendas displaying all tracked bills in committees, vote checklists and a unique feature that allows users to organize their bills with tags and view all bills being tracked. The Web-based program has a 15-day, no credit card free trial and syncs with the mobile application.
More information about the services offered can be found at LobbyUp.com. LobbyUp is owned by Phillips Management and Consulting Services, a lobbying firm and application development company North Two Five.
The government shutdown is now in its 24th day and government services are eroding. Some 800,000 federal workers are without pay and essential government missions and services are being affected.
In the Senate, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has blocked the House proposals and President Trump refuses to discuss alternatives to his demand for $5.7 billion in US taxpayer money to fund the wall.
Other actions
In other actions this year, on Jan. 11, Rooney introduced the Asylum Protection Act of 2019 (House Resolution 481), which would shorten the deadlines for people to apply for asylum in the United States and make it more difficult for applicants to seek asylum. On Jan. 10 he voted against the Affordable Care Act, which he called “a failed social experiment.”
On the environment, Rooney filed amendments to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (HR 414) so that algal blooms can be classified as major disasters and to the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (HR 205), to permanently extend the moratorium on offshore drilling to the eastern Gulf of Mexico. He joined Rep. Kathy Castor (D-14-Fla.) to co-sponsor her Florida Coastal Protection Act banning offshore drilling.
Rooney also abandoned the end-run around the Constitution he attempted last year when he introduced legislation to cut off congressional salaries after eight years in an effort to reduce members’ terms of office. He has now accepted the constitutional process and along with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the Senate, on Jan. 3 introduced a constitutional amendment (House Joint Resolution 20) that would limit members of the House to three terms (six years) and senators to two terms (12 years).
Like all constitutional amendments this one must be passed by a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate. Last year Rooney characterized this process as too “arduous,” leading to his attempted shortcut, which never made it out of committee.
Attendees at Prof. Bill Mitsch’s FGCU lecture on the causes and cures of red tide. (Photo by author)
Jan. 11, 2019 by David Silverberg
Yesterday, Jan. 10, 2019, was a red tide—and red letter—day in Southwest Florida.
It wasn’t because there was red tide on the beaches—there wasn’t. But red tide was on everyone’s mind. And it is no exaggeration to call the day “historic” for its implications for the region.
In the morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) came to Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) in Bonita Springs to announce a comprehensive package of environmental measures to address the region’s environmental crisis and needs, marking a complete and radical change from the policies of his predecessor, Rick Scott.
At noon, Jack Wert, executive director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Sandra Stilwell Youngquist, CEO and owner of Stilwell Enterprises and Restaurant Group based on Captiva Island, delivered a report to the Naples Press Club on the economic impact of the summer’s red tide crisis on tourism, hospitality and local business and the measures taken to deal with it.
In the evening, Prof. Bill Mitsch, director of the Everglades Wetland Research Park at FGCU and a world-renowned wetlands expert, delivered a lecture on the causes of and solutions to red tide and harmful algal blooms in which he revealed the “smoking gun” causing red tide. He also unveiled an innovative proposal that promises to both combat future pollution and provide fresh, clean water to the Everglades in an economically viable and constructive way.
It was a big data dump with major implications for the Paradise Coast. We’ll be examining each of these of events in detail in future postings.
Suffice to say for now that for the first time in a long time, amidst all of Southwest Florida’s sunshine, there are some rays of hope.
The US Coast Guard station at Fort Myers Beach. (Photo: USCG)
Jan. 10, 2019, by David Silverberg
The US Coast Guard remains on duty in Southwest Florida waters but the government shutdown is having an effect on some of its non-core missions.
“The Coast Guard continues operations authorized by law that provide for national security or that protect life and property during partial government shutdowns; however, there are some impacts to our day-to-day operations. The Coast Guard stops or curtails mission activities that do not fall into those categories,” Michael De Nyse, a Coast Guard public affairs specialist based in Clearwater, stated in response to questions from The Paradise Progressive.
Coast Guard operations are critical for boaters and maritime safety. The service conducts search and rescue missions, assists boaters in distress and enforces maritime rules and regulations. Other missions essential to safe water operations include maintaining channel markets and navigation aids.
The Coast Guard also interdicts drugs and contraband, prevents illegal migration and enforces environmental rules and regulations.
In Southwest Florida, the Coast Guard has operated a station in Ft. Myers Beach since 1972. Because it is part of the Department of Homeland Security it is affected by the government shutdown.
Despite uncertainty whether they will miss their first paycheck on Dec. 15, Coast Guard personnel continue working.
“Coast Guard uniformed personnel will continue to perform their duties during a partial government shutdown and will provide essential services such as search and rescue, port and homeland safety and security, law enforcement and environmental response,” wrote De Nyse.
“We don’t know how long the government shutdown will last, but we have a plan to maintain the essential safety, security, and environmental protection services the public expects from the Coast Guard,” he continued. “We will continue to monitor the situation and, if necessary, adjust our operations to ensure national security and to protect life and property.”
While operations are continuing, the shutdown is having an impact on Coast Guard families. In a five page tip sheet to Coast Guard civilian employees called Managing Your Finances During a Furlough, the service recommended cutting expenses, creating a budget, prioritizing spending, contacting creditors and tapping into community resources.
It also recommended earning outside money through such means as holding garage sales, baby or house sitting, pet walking, tutoring, turning hobbies into income or becoming a mystery shopper.
Perhaps the most poignant and personal description of the hardships being imposed on Coast Guard families came in an essay titled “This Senseless Government Shutdown Is Harming Coast Guard Families,” by former Coast Guard commandant, Adm. Thad Allen, which was published on the website of the magazine Naval Proceedings.
Today marks the 20th day of President Donald Trump’s government shutdown.
Ron DeSantis is sworn in as Florida’s governor in Tallahassee on Jan. 8.
Jan. 9, 2019 by David Silverberg
Sworn in yesterday as the 46th governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis made his priorities known in his inaugural speech.
The speech followed fairly standard forms and showed little originality or new departures. As a protege and creature of President Donald Trump, DeSantis leaned heavily toward the Trumpist playbook. However, some items stood out as being of particular relevance to Southwest Florida.
In a rare departure from the Trumpist agenda, he acknowledged the importance of environmental stewardship, which is barely an afterthought for Trump and had previously held a low priority for Gov. Rick Scott. “For Florida, the quality of our water and environmental surroundings are foundational to our prosperity as a state—it doesn’t just drive tourism; it affects property values, anchors many local economies and is central to our quality of life. The water is part and parcel of Florida’s DNA. Protecting it is the smart thing to do; it’s also the right thing to do,” DeSantis said.
In discussing the environment, DeSantis waxed positively Churchillian in his promises: “We will fight toxic blue-green algae, we will fight discharges from Lake Okeechobee, we will fight red tide, we will fight for our fishermen, we will fight for our beaches, we will fight to restore our Everglades and we will never ever quit, we won’t be cowed and we won’t let the foot draggers stand in our way.” While he didn’t say he would never surrender, he did resolve “to leave Florida to God better than we found it” (which sounds as if it’s about to revert back to God sooner than we might prefer).
On education, he called for greater emphasis on vocational, technical and “skill-based” education, particularly in computer science and technology. He stated that “our education system needs to empower parents to choose the best possible school for their children”—a seeming endorsement of private, charter and for-profit schools, although he also said that educational opportunities “must extend to every Floridian regardless of race, color or creed.” If it was not a condemnation of public education neither was it a ringing endorsement.
On health care he stated: “The escalating cost of medical care, prescription drugs and health insurance has wreaked havoc on family budgets, priced many out of the market entirely, and has put significant stress on our state budget. The current system is riddled with perverse incentives, intrudes on the doctor-patient relationship and is mired in bureaucracy and red tape. The people of Florida deserve relief.” Presumably more specific plans to do this will be forthcoming in the days ahead.
He really came out swinging against the judiciary: “for far too long Florida has seen judges expand their power beyond proper constitutional bounds” he said and he vowed: “judicial activism ends, right here and right now. I will only appoint judges who understand the proper role of the courts is to apply the law and Constitution as written, not to legislate from the bench. The Constitution, not the judiciary, is supreme.”
He said he would stand with people in law enforcement and work to keep schools and communities safe, although there was not a hint of gun regulation. In supporting the rule of law, he vowed: “We won’t allow sanctuary cities. And we will stop incentivizing illegal immigration.”
Commentary
None of this came as any surprise.
All Floridians should carefully watch DeSantis’ environmental policymaking and actions to see if he really means what he says on this issue and walks the walk. A good and easy starting point for DeSantis would be to publicly lift Rick Scott’s previous ban on use of the term “climate change” by state employees.
Supporters of public education need to very much monitor DeSantis’ education moves. The public education system is under threat and pressure from the for-profit education industry and the anti-public school movement.
Immigrants of all stripes and undocumented aliens can expect state crackdowns alongside the federal anti-immigration effort. This will primarily affect the state’s agricultural enterprises, including those in Southwest Florida. The loss of cheap, undocumented labor will probably result in rising food prices from the field to the fork. On this, it’s hard to discern any difference between DeSantis’ and Trump’s positions.
As for sanctuary cities, there are none in Florida. Only the Florida counties of Alachua and Clay have demurred from assisting federal enforcement actions, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, a restricted-immigration advocacy organization. DeSantis’ pledge was a solution in search of a problem.
There’s no evidence of a humanitarian or security crisis in Southwest Florida. The foreigners who usually arrive fly into Florida Southwest International Airport or drive down Route 75 from Ontario. A wall around Florida would be more useful for keeping out seawater than keeping out migrants.
As a result, there was very little in President Donald Trump’s national speech that seemed to apply to Southwest Florida. This was a national debate on a national issue that must be resolved in Congress at a national level.
However, what did flow out of Trump’s speech that can affect Southwest Florida and every city and town in the nation was his clear hatred of all immigrants, his stereotyping of broad swaths of people and his citations of only the worst examples of human behavior.
For every instance of an undocumented migrant who committed a crime, one can also cite the example of an immigrant who came to America, worked and thrived, perhaps put his life on the line in service to the United States and his fellow Americans and who made a contribution—some major, some minor—to this country.
But these don’t matter to Donald Trump. His poisonous hatred is capable of infecting Southwest Florida. It cannot help but lead to rising intolerance, suspicion and xenophobia. In the days ahead there will no doubt be instances of violence and hate crimes as a result of the kind of prejudice that Trump is promoting.
We can have debates over border security and the need for a wall. We can fact-check his figures and dissect his language. We can weigh the costs of his government shutdown. But what we can’t do is close the door and put back the bigotry that he releases into our homes.
Enough time has passed that generations—and Trump in particular—have forgotten where this kind of hatred led. Unchecked in Germany, it led to domestic tyranny, the Holocaust and World War II.
But closer to home, it’s worth remembering that this kind of prejudice and hatred, whipped up by hysteria and unconfirmed accusations, led to the lynching of two African-American teenagers in Fort Myers as recently as 1924.
We’ve long put away the days and passions of Nazism and Jim Crow and they should never be resurrected. But Trump is deliberately resuscitating long-dead demons of racism and hatred in pursuit of his narrow personal ends.
It’s up to everyone who knows history, who opposes bigotry and wants a big, vibrant and prosperous America and a peaceful and inclusive Southwest Florida to battle these demons, whether they appear in our hearts, our minds or in our dealings with our neighbors—no matter where they were born.
In a 2010 news conference following the Deepwater Horizon disaster and oil spill, Rep. Kathy Castor calls for holding oil companies responsible for environmental damage. (Photo: Office of Rep. Castor)
Jan. 8, 2019 by David Silverberg
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-14-Fla.) has reintroduced the Florida Coastal Protection Act to make permanent the moratorium on offshore oil drilling that is set to expire in 2022. As of this writing, the bill has yet to receive a number or be referred to a committee.
“Here in Florida, we’re keenly aware of the devastating impacts of oil and gas drilling off our shores,” Castor said according to a statement issued by her office. “Our state’s vital natural resources – and our state’s economy – cannot risk the devastation brought by blowouts, nor can it afford the high costs of carbon pollution. We have an obligation to act now to protect our beautiful Florida coastline, our economy and our future.”
State waters begin at the state’s shores and extend to three miles into the Atlantic Ocean and nine miles into the Gulf. The Florida Coastal Protection Act extends the recently approved state moratorium to federal waters.
Castor was joined by Reps. Charlie Crist (D-13-Fla.), Vern Buchanan (R-16-Fla.) and Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.).
According to Castor’s statement, the moratorium currently in place protects waters up to 235 miles off the west coast of Florida from oil drilling and will expire in June 2022 unless made permanent.
Rooney, who joined Castor in her 2017 effort to pass the same legislation is supporting her again. “The people of Florida are clearly opposed to offshore drilling,” Castor’s statement quoted him saying. “The November 2018 ballot contained a ban on offshore drilling, Amendment 9, which won with over 68 percent in favor. This widespread support is a clear indication that voters are overwhelmingly in support of Florida coastal protection. As Floridians, we are well aware that our livelihood depends on a pristine environment.”
Rooney’s efforts to stop offshore oil exploration and drilling were thwarted in the 115th Congress by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-1-La.), the House Majority Whip and a leading proponent of oil and gas interests.
In addition to Rooney, Rep. Crist stated: “Florida voters spoke clearly in November: no drilling off our coasts. Our job is to be their voice in Washington, sending that same message loud and clear with this bill to block harmful drilling and exploration off of Florida. We cannot afford another disaster devastating our waters, health, and economy.”
Rep. Buchanan stated: “Allowing drilling off of Florida’s pristine coasts would be a colossal mistake. Red tide has already plagued the Sunshine State – it would be imprudent to invite the potential for another catastrophic oil spill that would devastate Florida’s economy and environment. As co-chair of the Florida congressional delegation, I will continue working with colleagues in both parties to protect the state’s beautiful coasts and waters.”
Analysis
Castor introduced the same bill in April 2017, a companion to a measure introduced by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in the Senate. In the House, the standalone measure remained in committee but became a proposed amendment to the Defense Authorization bill. However, House Republicans would not allow it to come to a vote.
This year Castor is introducing it in a Democratic House and she chairs the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, so it has a much better chance of advancing in the chamber.
So far the most exciting thing to come out of the new Congress specifically for Southwest Florida is the appointment of Rep. Kathy Castor (D-14-Fla.) to head the new House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.
In Castor, the Florida Gulf coast gets a member of Congress in an influential position who is intimately familiar with the region’s environmental needs and challenges. This could be a major asset for the region.
Castor’s commitment
Castor is a six-term representative with a long record of environmental activism. Before being elected to Congress in 2006 she worked as a lawyer doing environmental work and served as a Hillsborough County commissioner, where she also concentrated on environmental issues.
In Congress she did environmental messaging work for the Democrats as co chair of the House Democratic Environmental Message Team. That team put out a report called Trump’s Toxic Team, detailing environmental violations, corruption and abuse by administration officials. In appointing her, House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-12-Calif.) called her “a proven champion for public health and green infrastructure” and “an outstanding leader on the Energy and Commerce Committee and on the House Democratic Environmental Message Team.”
Her district encompasses Tampa and Hillsborough County and has had more than its share of environmental crises. There was the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its aftermath, as well as red tide during the past summer. Although red tide levels in Hillsborough County didn’t reach the level of those in Lee and Collier counties, it nonetheless presented a problem for the district—so Castor knows red tide and its consequences.
Castor also worked across the aisle with Rep. Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.) when he joined her last year in attempting to introduce an amendment to the Defense authorization bill that would have made the oil drilling moratorium in the eastern Gulf of Mexico permanent. That effort was quashed by the House Republican leadership, which would not allow it to come to a vote.
The Green New Deal and the new select committee
In Congress, a “select” committee is one with a special purpose whose members are specially selected to sit on it. It can’t pass legislation or issue subpoenas, which makes it a less powerful form of committee than a “standing” committee, which is permanent and does pass legislation. A select committee is also temporary and can be dissolved after its mission is completed.
The Climate Crisis Committee is also less expansive and powerful than the Green New Deal select committee that was sought by environmental activists in Congress like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-14-NY).
The Green New Deal is a sweeping set of proposals to remake society in a more environmentally friendly way. While the concept continues to evolve, it has four basic pillars, according to the US Green Party version of it:
A new economic bill of rights;
A transition from dirty technologies to environmentally friendly ones (to make the United States emission-free in 12 years);
Financial reform;
Democratic reforms like overturning the Citizens United decision.
In an effort to promote a Green New Deal select committee, on Nov. 13 supporters demonstrated outside Rep. Pelosi’s office on Capitol Hill. Among their demands was that members of the committee not have accepted donations from the fossil fuel industry.
Pelosi would not endorse the full Green New Deal program or a select committee specifically devoted to it. Nor would she agree to excluding fossil fuel-accepting members. However, she did agree to revive an environmental select committee, hence the creation of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.
Even though the new select committee is less powerful and its mandate less sweeping than Green New Deal advocates had hoped, it puts Castor in an outsize position to influence the House leadership and the entire Democratic caucus. This is especially useful when key pieces of legislation and appropriations affecting Southwest Florida come up—and they will, particularly when it comes to environmental matters.
The question is: What is it that Southwest Florida needs from Congress, particularly on environmental issues? Once SWFL has a list of priorities, it can seek Castor’s help in pursuing them.
Commentary
The new Congress’ first priority is to end Trump’s shutdown of the government. It has already passed legislation to do so, which Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he will not consider.
Presuming a compromise is found and government is functioning again, the new Democratic House has myriad issues to pursue and SWFL could get lost in the shuffle. It should not allow that to happen.
SWFL needs money to make up its economic losses from last year’s red tide crisis. It needs to shore up its infrastructure against climate change and that includes fortifying itself against hurricanes and preparing for sea level rise. It needs to make the eastern Gulf oil drilling moratorium permanent. Along with the rest of South Florida it needs to restore the Everglades and complete the projects already being planned.
Congress should be able to help with all these issues. Fortunately, in Castor, the region should have an influential friend who can help it do it. But SWFL needs to be organized and lobby hard if it’s going make any progress.
(Note: We have reached out to Rep. Castor to get direct comment and learn her plans and priorities. This story will be updated when we get a response.)
The US Capitol.
The US Coast Guard station at Fort Myers Beach. (Photo: USCG)
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