Artisan Using Advanced Tool Skill

Email your lawmakers now to help us kill this bad bill!   Dear manoj,   All session long, we've been cautiously watching House Bill 789/Senate Bill 738, sponsored by Rep. Toby Overdorf and Sen. Danny Burgess.    We sounded the alarm — and you responded — in order to successfully kill two dangerous proposals in the original versions of the bills. It was a small, noteworthy victory.   The bill is less bad now, but it's still bad news. Friends of the Everglades remains very concerned about a remaining provision in the bill that would prohibit citizens from suing polluters for personal injury or economic damages, if the event that caused the injuries was duly permitted or authorized by a government agency.    Sounds to us like a backdoor way to protect polluters from being held accountable. And now there's some evidence that's exactly the case.   Investigative journalist Jason Garcia reported in a Feb. 25 piece that mining giant Mosaic — ...

Here's how you can help end this rigged water-management system. You can help fix this rigged system  manoj,   This is the moment we've been bracing for. Last Saturday, the Army Corps of Engineers opened the flood gates from Lake Okeechobee to the northern estuaries — allowing billions of gallons of polluted water to flow, untreated, into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers and the Lake Worth Lagoon.   If you haven't seen these damaging discharges, check out our video footage from the St. Lucie Lock & Dam.  A whitewater torrent is flowing from the gates. It could continue for weeks or months. The Army Corps of Engineers is using these fragile estuaries as relief valves in an attempt to lower Lake Okeechobee ahead of rainy season. The effects are swift and violent. Salinity levels plummeted in the St. Lucie River this week, threatening oysters and seagrass beds that had started to recover after a toxic Lake O deluge in 2018. No toxic algae has been confirmed (ye...

Friends of the Everglades LIVE recording available now!   Hi manoj,   Today's livestream demonstrated the value of environmental groups working together to accomplish common goals. Though geographically different, the Everglades and Florida's springs are both unique ecosystems that are valuable to our economy and important to our water supply. By working together, we've made some good progress this year in Tallahassee — including heading off  a dangerous bill provision that would have harmed the average citizen's ability to challenge the government for environmental failures.   Even so, plenty of work remains. The springs and Everglades allies are stronger together, and the importance of citizen participation cannot be overstated. As Florida Springs Council's Executive Director Ryan Smart put it, "We can't promise we'll win every time you take action, but we will always lose if you all don't take action… Real people — voters — speaking up mak...

This event will begin at noon today, February 14.   Hi manoj,   This is a reminder that our Friends of the Everglades LIVE: 2024 Mid-session update: Will Florida Lawmakers help or harm the Everglades? will begin in 1 hour at 12:00 PM today, February 14.   Today's event will help viewers understand the progress and setbacks we're tracking for bills impacting important Everglades issues at this halfway point in Florida's legislative session. Florida Springs Council Executive Director Ryan Smart will join Friends of the Everglades Executive Director, Eve Samples, and Policy Director, Gil Smart for this live conversation.     This event will be streamed to our Facebook page, YouTube channel, Twitter and Instagram Live . Wherever you follow Friends of the Everglades, use the buttons below to join us.    A recap of the event will be added to the Latest News tab on our website shortly after the event. A recorded version will also be delivered directly to...