You wonder why environmentalists make me so crazy. I know you do, because you've told me so. Here's the latest example which should pretty much explain it.
A letter from Gov. Rick Scott ordering Lake Okeechobee discharges to flow south, combined with a battle of mayors over flood control, blew up like an oil tanker in a mine field last week. What it did is expose the ugly face of environmental extremism in Florida.
Peter Schorsch, publisher of Florida Politics, uncovered and reported Monday on an email exchange from the Everglades Commons listserv, made up of one of the largest and most prominent environmental groups in Florida. Read Beyond the Pale: Enviro Activist Calls for 'Death of Thousands' in Lake O Discharge Controversy". It's a story worth repeating.
During the email exchange, at least one environmentalist, Mike Elfenbein, 39, from Port Charlotte -- who usually does his emailing about panthers -- talked about a Herbert Hoover Dike break as maybe a good thing, never mind the lives it might cost and the towns it would wipe out -- because it would get lake water flowing south again.
Wrote Schorsch, "Elfenbein, in an especially nasty rant, wishes death via a disastrous Herbert Hoover Dike failure, resulting in the death of thousands of South Floridians. Such a catastrophe would 'fix everything,' noting the human toll would be 'inconceivable.' But the benefits to the environment would be 'immeasurable,' he concludes, drawing a line in the sand. 'Question is … Which side are you on? Human or nature?'"
Schorsch opines, "Wishing misfortune on your adversary is one thing, and is de rigueur for what passes as discourse these days. But wishing death to innocent citizens on a massive scale is quite another.
"The exchange demonstrates environmentalists’ version of Godwin’s law — where a comparison to Hitler and Nazi-ism invoked in a conversation signals the end of rational debate. It is not a proud moment for Florida’s environmentalist movement."
Personally, I think these people are dangerous.
In 2013, when some folks in the Glades first told me affluent Floridians in waterfront homes along each coast didn't care if Glades residents drowned in a massive flood -- as long as no lake water was discharged into their counties -- I thought they were exaggerating. I was sure they had misunderstood people who only wanted a solution to their poisoned rivers and estuaries.
But I've come realize they didn't misunderstand at all, that there are selfishly fanatical individuals within the environmental community -- and not just one or two or half a dozen -- who believe their way is the only way, and any other way is in the way. Some of these people are rich and influential and noisy, and you can imagine how rural people don't believe they have the same voice. They're scared. They're afraid money and influence will win.
Last week, mayors serving in Lee County, unhappy with discharges into the Caloosahatchee from a dangerously full Lake 'O', said they want the state, the feds, everybody and anybody to pull out all the stops so surplus water can flow south instead of east and west.
The six mayors -- Nick Batos, Estero; Ben Nelson, Bonita Springs; Anita Cereceda, Fort Myers Beach; Marni Sawicki, Cape Coral; Randy Henderson, Fort Myers; and Kevin Ruane, Sanibel -- met Wednesday to discuss the current water quality situation and any solutions.
But mayors south of Lake Okeechobee -- Colin Walkes, Pahokee; Steve Wilson, Belle Glade; Phillip Roland, Clewiston; Joe Kiles, South Bay; and former Pahokee Mayor J.P. Sasser -- got wind of the meeting, were miffed their colleagues on the coast didn't invite them, and on Feb. 11 fired a letter to each mayor expressing their disappointment, claiming they're tired of coastal cities pointing the finger at them.
"Are the six Lee County mayors going to set themselves up as judge and jury for how many Glades flooded homes it would take to make it (OK) with them to start the pumps to drain water off our rural cities? Do they get to determine the relative worth of our towns, our people? Because it harms their tourism? If you want to talk about tourism damage, we are sick and tired of the coastal media characterizing Lake Okeechobee water as toxic or polluted."
Read a copy of the letter in the attachment below. These leaders are fired up.
After Scott's letter ordering the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to relieve January flooding and lake discharges by sending more water south into Everglades National Park, environmentalists must have experienced a surge of triumph. It looked as if finally the governor was seeing the solution their way.
But then in a follow-up story, the News-Press quoted Jim Beever, a former state biologist now with the Southwest Florida Planning Council.
To say Beever is skeptical of the governor's plan is putting it mildly. Once you start flowing water out of the lake, how do you stop it? he asked.
“The current system is not designed to be able to stop flows,” Beever said. “It was designed to do the very things it is doing and is governed by policies and procedures that cause these flows. ... Given the current water management system and infrastructure, it might be possible but it would be very difficult and would take risks that many would not want to take. But it is extremely improbable it would be done.”
That's what got the gaggle of enviros in such a lather, and what led to intemperate talk of a dike break as collateral damage in a quick-fix Everglades restoration.
In his story, Schorsch took up for the Army Corps, too.
"Some of the smartest people in the state have long warned about a Hurricane Katrina-level flood in South Florida," he wrote. "Without the Army Corps of Engineers at the helm, Lake Okeechobee could rise to hazardous levels, threatening to wash hundreds of thousands of people out to sea.
"It may seem passe to say so, but wishing death on opponents is not the most efficient way of winning hearts and minds."
Schorsch finished with this: "When forced to choose between living with humans or going down with Mother Nature, I may be selfish, but I’ll side with humans."
A really good one, Peter. Thanks for bringing it to light.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
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