The Biscayne Bay Dredge is one of those issues that is hard to overlook.
I heard about it after I began my blog in January 2012! And I have an interest in these things!? How can that be? Is reporting by local news so bad?
The first time I read about the dredge, it wasn’t even in a local paper and I thought :“Well that will never be allowed to happen”.
A couple of organizations in Miami fought hard on this, and it seems like they received very little attention in the local media. For that reason remember, it is great to visit a groups website from time to time! Or do the Facebook thing, because real news is hard to find.
Reading some of the comments on the Miami Herald website left by readers, there are some interesting ones in response to articles about the dredge, thought you might enjoy a few:
In an article insanely titled “Victory for the Bay’ one reader wrote the following:
“Victory for the Bay”?!?!?! Herald, you’ve got to be kidding. Biscayne Bay is a one of a kind national treasure, and the deep dredge will defile it.
Why not drill for oil in Yellowstone Park, and strip mine Yosemite Valley next? The Corps of Engineers has destroyed so much of the state in past … coral reefs within the protected swim zone in South Beach that so many people used to enjoy were buried under beach sand when the CoE widened the beach at South Pointe @ 10 years ago. “Oops” was the regulators’ response … that’s how much they care about our coral reefs. They screwed up the Everglades, and killed the Kissimmee River, and now we’re “restoring” them with the best engineering band-aids we can muster, all too little and too late. The “deal” is a victory for the Herald’s advertisers, and a helping hand for a rape of Biscayne Bay. Just leave our treasured Bay alone!
and
“Environmentalists’ appeals were rushed within a 30-day deadline imposed by Tallahassee legislators and supported by county officials.” So in other words, Tallahassee and county officials basically shoved it through before anyone could make more of a stink about it? “The county provided $2.3 million more than previously budgeted for restoration and monitoring projects that will save or restore corals, sea grass beds and other sealife.” This is a victory? Come on Miami Herald!!! Your talking about a several Billion dollar profit over 20 years and all the port can put up is a measly 2.3 million more into mitigation? Welcome to Miami! Break the sewer line so you don’t have to transplant the corals or protect the snook. Big Business and Politicians are trumping the best interests of the local citizens, again!
A few readers speculated that the environmental groups who were awarded compensation were going to misuse funds, but my guess is those readers were members of the T (for ‘Totally out of it’) Party. They think that manatees are in the way and that they are annoying – “Jesus apparently hated manatees, according to a new Tea Party platform circulating around Florida.” http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2011/07/tea_party_manatees_against_bible_jurassic_park.php
There is a small Buddhist country in the Himalaya’s called Bhutan. If you have never heard of the country, they are worth reading about. Instead of GNP or Gross National Product, they use a scale called GNH Gross National Happiness. They have also set aside over 50% of their forest NEVER to be touched and have many other environmental controls in place to preserve their natural resources.
We cannot go to the Bay store and buy another Biscayne Bay. We cannot buy another ocean…. The politicians in Bhutan, are a lot smarter than ours in Florida.
