HOMESTEAD, Fla. - With the passage of Amendment One in the November election, Florida now has the funds to protect the Everglades and the state's water supply. But now, state lawmakers appear to be losing their resolve to purchase land the sugar industry agreed to sell in 2010.

Progress Florida is circulating a petition asking lawmakers to buy the critical land. Damien Filer, political director with Progress Florida, says it's time the sugar industry and the state make good on their commitment to protect water quality.

"This was a great thing for press releases for the sugar industry, but now that voters have said, 'Yeah, this is exactly how we want our money spent,' this issue has gotten mired up in the legislative process," says Filer. "At this point, sugar is actively lobbying to kill this deal."

The contract between the U.S. Sugar Corporation and the state to buy the land expires in October. By purchasing the land, Filer says the state could build a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to contain polluted waters generated by the sugar industry, and keep them from flowing into the Everglades.

Attempts to reach the Florida Sugar Cane League and U.S. Sugar Corporation were made for this story. Neither responded with comment.

According to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Everglades have shrunk to less than half of their original size, a process the NRDC says has been accelerated by the sugar industry. Filer says maintaining the Everglades' health is key to the health of Florida's economy, people and wildlife.

"There are two critical issues at stake here," says Filer. "One is the Everglades are a national treasure and we have a responsibility to do everything we can to protect it. The other is about one in three of us gets our drinking water directly from the Everglades. So there's both practical and other reasons to make sure we do everything we can to get this right."

The Everglades are the largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the lower 48 states, and are home to 56 endangered or threatened species. The region also draws 1.6 million annual visitors.

So far, Filer says more than 5,500 people have signed the Progress Florida petition.


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The Conservation Fund, which works to protect land and nature across the U.S. has announced it has protected more than 1 million acres of working forests lands across the country, including in Oregon.

The organization's milestone comes as forests are rapidly disappearing -- as many as 13 million acres in the next few decades.

Brian Dangler, director of the Working Forest Fund with The Conservation Fund, said valuable work continues on the protected land which adds to the nearby economy.

"The beauty of these projects is that the receipts from the timber, the sustainable management of forests, timber harvest really helps local folks to keep the schools going, the fire department, the local services," he explained.

He added The Conservation Fund has helped protect forestland in the Columbia River Gorge near Hood River and Deep River Woods near Astoria. Nationwide, it's secured forests in 21 states. The organization uses community and private partnerships to protect nature.

Dangler said large, intact forests support jobs in rural communities, through logging, trucking, building roads and other activities.

"And, of course, the wildlife habitat that goes along with it. Good forest management usually improves wildlife habitat for lots of different species," he continued.

Dangler noted development is one of the biggest threats to forests, and said it's important to keep forestlands as units rather than smaller parcels.

"Eventually more and more development just nibbles away at these large, intact forests. It's very important for them to be large in landscape," he said. "It's like Humpty Dumpty -- you can't put it back together again when it gets fragmented so much."

Summer in Indiana produces a variety of festivals, outdoor concerts, and athletic competitions.

These attractions produce large crowds and hundreds of pounds of trash and food containers which could end up in a landfill.

"The Indianapolis Event Waste Guide" is an environmentally-focused publication with resources and contact information for nonprofits and vendors wanting to reduce waste.

Ecosystems Events Owner Julia Spangler said the publication is for events attended by a dozen or thousands of people.

"Bringing people together, especially if you're feeding them or decorating, often generates waste," said Spangler. "So, this guide is all about first, how to reduce the amount of waste generated in the first place, and then how to keep that waste out of the landfill."

Spangler described the publication as a "one-stop shop starting point" for recycling or composting food, waste, leftover lanyards, or banners.

In 2021, Indiana collected more than nine million tons of garbage, refuse, office waste and other similar materials.

The Indianapolis Event Waste Guide was released to coincide with the U.S. Olympic swimming trials held in Indianapolis last month.

As the state continues to draw large crowds at amateur and professional athletic competitions, event planners are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint.

Sustain Indy Community Manager, and City of Indianapolis Office of Sustainability Community Engagement Manager Lyndsay Trameri noted the guide is intended for local residents and out-of-town organizers.

"Just because you're planning an event in the town you live in," said Trameri, "that doesn't mean you're aware of all the different contacts and organizations that are local that can help you decrease your footprint."

Trameri added that city leaders have a plan for Indianapolis to be net zero emissions by 2050. Trameri said you can download the free guide on the Visit Indy website.

Weather researchers at Iowa State University say a shifting climate and warmer ocean temperatures are partially responsible for a record number of tornadoes this spring.

More than 100 were reported in Iowa, in May alone.

Eleven hundred tornadoes were reported regionwide in May -- from Texas to Minnesota, and from West Virginia to Georgia. That's more than twice the 30 year average.

One of the fiercest killed five people and injured dozens in rural Greenfield, Iowa.

ISU Severe Weather Meteorologist and Professor of Meteorology William Gallus said extreme heat from a changing climate has increased ocean temperatures, and is one contributing factor to this year's storms.

"Mexico and Texas were having record high temperatures," said Gallus. "That was allowing the Gulf of Mexico to rapidly warm up, get much warmer than normal, which means that is our main source of energy."

Gallus said the weather pattern known as El Niño -- characterized by warmer ocean temperatures that prompt more precipitation and provide fuel for severe weather -- is now shifting to La Niña, marked by cooler seas and drier weather.

That could cause the rest of the tornado season to be less active.

Gallus said the high number of tornadoes in the region was unusual, since climate change models predict Iowa and neighboring states west of the Mississippi should being seeing below average numbers, which they have in recent years.

"The long-term trend has been for tornadoes to be hitting more places east of the Mississippi River," said Gallus.

Gallus said data show tornadoes occurring on fewer days each year, but coming in clusters and with greater intensity.

He says some storms that have been listed as Category F3 are probably F5's, but measurement methods in some areas are not adequate to gauge the storms' intensity.




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