Sugar Plums: The Dirt on Saving the Everglades

There’s a dirty little secret in Florida, and like a lot of political intrigue, it involves a two way road paved with cash—yours and mine–and a lot of Republican shenanigans.

Have you ever participated in an effort to “Save the Everglades?” Follow the fold to find out what you’re buying–and whom.

The destruction of the Everglades began 50 years ago, but accelerated as Cuban exiles moved in to establish lucrative sugar businesses in the former ‘glades lands.

The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) was created in the 1940s when half of the 1.6 million ha Everglades ecoregion was drained for agricultural and urban development.  Of the EAA’s resulting 700,000 ha, 500,000 ha is planted to sugarcane.

It’s been a good game for the owners; but it’s a game that is going to end soon.

Soil subsidence caused by oxidization of soil organic matter directly threatens the sustainability of sugarcane production. For 5000 years, a steady flow of water deposited 8.4 cm of organic matter per century on Everglades soils.  Since drainage, EAA soils have diminished by 2.5 cm per year, certainly inhibiting agricultural production over the long-term.

The former Everglades soil is turning to organic concrete, and the owners know it.

Ecologically destructive practices threaten sugarcane farming in Everglades Agricultural Area.  Soil subsidence and phosphorus runoff are two serious problems that the industry has begun to address, but sustainability remains a future goal rather than a reality…Significant changes in EAA sugarcane agroecosystems are required to ensure their future viability and the health of neighboring ecosystems.

What’s sustaining this industry? Your tax dollars and hope—that Castro will die soon and the owners can take the money they’ve made in Florida back home.

It is not a huge stretch to argue that the same federal price-support program that bolsters Florida sugar cane growers contributes to the degradation of the Everglades. And it should come as no great surprise that these same sugar magnates have used all the clout their political money brings, both at the national and local levels, first to resist a cleanup and second to avoid paying for it.

An 8 billion dollar program to buy back the land from them–at highly inflated prices–to “restore the Everglades” was enacted by the Republicans, and heavy donations from this sector are intended to keep that plan on the table until they can take that money offshore. (While the majority of Florida Cuban donations go to the Republicans, there are some Dem (Clinton) supporters in West Palm Beach, as well.)

For all the bluster of the Florida Cubans (a group that has even reserved a stadium for the “celebration” of Fidel Castro’s death) there’s every possibility that the emigres will be received with the same level  of “smiles and flowers” that Chalabi got! After all, for 40 years Castro has been telling his people that all of their economic problems are our fault due to the embargos. He’s been telling them that without his protection they would be taken over by the Yankees. And the minute he got sick, our very diplomatic chief diplomat, Dr. Rice, announced: “Hold on, Cuba…we’re coming” showing that her understanding of Cuban politics is as out-of-date as her expertise on the USSR. Why can’t we understand that at least some Cubans will be saying: “Yes, he was a dictator–but he was OUR dictator!”

Bush’s antagonistic attitude toward Latin America displays a lack of understanding that parallels his attitude toward the rest of the world. But this time, he’s using the guise of an environmental movement to finance the moves.