Slime coast

MIAMI – Lately about this time of the year the slime descends on Florida’s long beautiful coastline turning large parts of the shore in central Florida green. This year on the beaches of South Florida, there has been an unusual large amount of sargassum—sea weed—floating just off the shore, interfering with swimming and even causing entire beaches to close.

The source of these two noxious invasions, north and south, is essentially the same: algae gone wild.

Algae are a natural part of the marine ecosystem. Algae goes wild and becomes a problem when vast amounts of growth-inducing chemicals are poured into lakes and streams and, eventually, the ocean.

The chemicals mainly come from fertilizer and pesticide runoff from farms and lawns. The government allows these toxic pollutants to flow freely because the Republican politicians who run the state legislature are in bed with corporate interests in general and with agribusiness in particular.

Herein lies the ultimate source of the slime. It is the corrupt collusion between GOP lawmakers and business interests that override concerns about the environment and the livelihoods of the people along the coast who once made their money from tourism and fishing. Such people can’t afford the expensive, well-connected lobbyists that Big Sugar and other corporations routinely employ.

Pollutants are also to blame for the runaway growth of a different species of algae, the one that produces seaweed. While, unlike the algae blooms in the state’s more northern coasts sargassum is not toxic, it’s potential poison to tourism and the businesses and workers that rely on it.

The ultimate cause of the increase in sargassum in South Florida is the same as that which produces the algae blooms in more northerly stretches of the state. The well-rewarded refusal of politicians to curtail pollution.

Everyone knows that Florida’s coast is a major contributor to the state’s economy, including both wages and profits. What fewer people realize is the sheer scale of the resource, in terms of ecology, economy, and the sheer human delight that the sea provides.

Florida’s coastline stretches a mind-blowing 8,436 miles. For comparison, the distance from Miami and Los Angeles is 2,730 miles. Of the fifty states, only Alaska has a longer coast. Alaska’s coast is a great asset to that state. But Alaska’s coasts are frigid and sparsely populated. Florida’s much larger population mostly lives near the coast. With all due respect to the rugged Alaskans, no one goes to that state to surf or snorkel, nor do college students go there for spring break.

The slime in Florida is not solely on the coast. It’s in the DNA of the political system. Governor Rick Scott leads the parade. After Hurricane Irma, Scott awarded rich contrasts for hurricane cleanup to pricey contractors who charged far more than what competitors would have charged.

Florida is prone to one major natural disaster: hurricanes. It is also prone to unnatural disasters in the persons of politicians who see hurricanes and other calamities as an opportunity to benefit political allies and donors on the average taxpayer’s none-too-abundant dimes. The smell of rot doesn’t emanate exclusively from decomposing seaweed.

Other slimy doings by state government abound. Let me add just a couple of other examples related to what we have been talking about. A few years ago, Floridians approved, by 71 percent of the vote, a constitutional amendment that mandates the state to spend considerable money every year to acquire ecologically-sensitive land and improve the environment.

Since, the state has spent that money for everything except what the voters intended. Environmental and civic groups sued the state, and recently a judge ruled in their favor and against the state of Florida. The state has yet to say how they plan to correct the situation, saying instead that “they are studying the ruling.”

This is probably baloney. The state is likely to be studying ways it can get away with continuing to defy the wishes of more than seven in ten Floridians.

The hostility of the party and the president that today run the country regarding protecting the environment obviously is not confined to Florida. But this state is among the worst.

The question “whose side are you on” has an easy answer when it comes to Florida’s state government. As a case in point, this year the state passed a law that puts an exclamation point on the answer. The statute makes it easier for private property owners to restrict public access to the beach.

Here in the slime coast, Florida’s Republican legislators know who butters their bread—private interests. That’s why they find it easy to say: “The votes of 71 percent of the citizens be damned.” And “to hell with the right of the average person to enjoy the beach.”