Sweet debate in FL

Facts be damned, U.S. Sugar’s primary goal for their latest water heist is clear: to reserve Florida’s water for themselves alone. Instead of looking at Florida’s needs today — based on science, population and public health — U.S. Sugar wants to lock in the water supply numbers from over two decades ago. To them, it does not matter if that prevents water from reaching your home, the Everglades, Florida Bay or wherever else it is needed, and to them, it also does not matter if it causes toxic discharges to Florida’s beaches and coasts.

… writes U.S. Congressman Brain Mast in an interesting opinion article in News-Press.

Read the article and you’ll see that the congressman doesn’t seem to understand the value of storing water for the possibility of drought.

Then… U.S. sugar retorts!

*Congressman Mast is striking out like the worst sort of politician, seeking to blame others for his own failures. The truth of the matter is that Mast has pushed hard to permanently lower Lake Okeechobee levels, thus reducing everyone’s water supply in South Florida. *

…and…

When our system suffers a natural drought, everyone — including farmers — are cut back and do not get all the water they need. Now that nearly 10 million people are living in our region, water shortages will be even more frequent and devastating if Mast and his cronies succeed in their quest to drain Lake Okeechobee. Since he lives in one of the only areas in South Florida that does not rely on the lake for water, risking everyone else’s water and local food supply appears to matter little.