Obama surrogates swooped into Florida Friday to drop $80 million in federal subsidies for conservation easements north of Lake Okeechobee. Thats fancy talk for paying landowners to hold water.
As you can imagine, Florida reporters and environmentalists alike fell over themselves like a gaze of coons on a deer feeder, swooning over this benevolent president who cares so much about the fabled River of Grass. Press machines whirled out copy touting Barack Obama's renewed commitment to the Everglades.
With Florida being arguably the most important swing state in 2012, some suggested the timing is convenient. The Everglades always draws a crowd in an election year, wrote Craig Pittman in the Tampa Bay Times.
First of all, why?
Second of all, why now?
Sure, some folks -- the Everglades Foundation, for instance -- will roll out surveys saying that Floridians overwhelmingly support Everglades restoration. I love those polls: Do you support mother nature and apple pie? Heavy question, that. Are we supposed to be shocked when an overwhelming majority check the "yes" box?
But, come on, lets put this in context. Contact Joe Floridian and ask him whats sitting on top of his priority list. Hes worried about making his mortgage payment; hes worried about the cost of gas to drive his kids to Disney World this summer (not to mention all the ridiculous charges once he arrives can you say "Orlando bed tax"?). I can assure you, Mr. and Mrs. Floridian are not worried whether water going into the Everglades is, as one Glades expert explained to me once: Three to four times cleaner than rain.
But, its an election year and Obama is anticipating his envoys will deliver 80 million delicious reasons for Floridians to cast their votes for him in November.Mother nature and apple pie, right?
Not so fast, Mr. President.
Let's not forget that this is the same administration that nearly crippled the state with its burdensome numeric nutrient criteria. Obamas EPA fought to shackle businesses, counties and municipalities statewide with tens of billions in new taxes. To add insult to injury, Florida was singled out as the only state painted with this job-killing bull's-eye.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection estimated EPAs mandates would have imposed $21 billion in costs on municipal wastewater treatment and stormwater utilities. Adam Putnam's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, along with the University of Florida, determined EPAs directive wouldve cost Floridas agriculture industry a top economic driver in the state $1.15 billion annually and wouldve killed up to 14,500 full- and part-time jobs.
Perhaps U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., at the time, said it best: Florida has one of the most aggressive water-quality protection programs in the nation, implemented by the people who know our state best, and its time the EPA stop bullying us into accepting another Washington-contrived mandate that would devastate job creation.
Even Democrats who are not known for standing up to bullies -- U.S. Sen. Bill "Blend into the Woodwork" Nelson comes to mind -- broke from the Obama administration and instead backed Floridas right to develop its own science-based standards.
Now, almost absurdly, the Obama campaign thinks Florida voters will forget all that and somehow be won over by merely dangling this shiny $80 million carrot?
Perhaps the president, who will be campaigning in Florida this week, should have coordinated the timing of his announcement a bit better.Did the Obama folks not realize theyd be sharing the headline with another Everglades development?
Two days prior to Obamas big $80 million announcement, federal judge Alan Gold took action just short of endorsing a new federal-state Everglades settlement agreement. Price tag: $880 million! And, while the financing plan remains murky, what is clear is that property taxpayers in 16 of Florida's 67 counties will have to bear a $520 million burden for it.
Shockingly, that figure represents a huge deal the governor's office was able to strike with the Obama administration.
As Friends of the Everglades President Alan Farago complained (no, thats not a typo) in a recent op-ed, The plan, which Judge Gold approved last week, falls short of what EPA believed was necessary to meet Everglades pollution goals --$880 million vs. $1.5 billion
So, Obama's feds grudgingly accepted a compromise from the state just shy of $1 billion, instead of squeezing South Floridians for the $1.5 billion they really wanted? Well, jeez, I don't know what to say. ... Ummm thank you ... ?
Obama's Everglades election strategy is somewhere beyond crazy-insulting after his administration's actions.
Just as bad is the failure of virtually the whole of the Florida press corps to point out what's going on here. I expect it from environmentalists who don't know the value of a dollar from a banana. But not from Florida's voraciously curious and high-minded press.
I guess if it's election time and your name is Barack Obama and if you promise you did something magnificent for Floridians even when you didn't, you get a pass.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com, or at (850) 727-0859.
