The Charlotte County Democratic Club (CCDC) will honor Earth Day on April 22 by removing trash on Olean Rd from Kings Hwy to Beacon St. Volunteers are welcome and supplies will be furnished. If you would like to join this event, please arrive at CCDC Headquarters located at 3596 Tamiami Trail, #102, Port Charlotte by…
By Andy Mele, Sarasota environmental activist and Democrat Background: Piney Point in Manatee County, just south of Tampa, is a small mountain of waste phosphogypsum called a “gypstack,” with earthwork berm-retained lakes on top for settling out the waste phosphogypsum, and recycling the acidic process fluids used in fertilizer manufacturing. The current spill is just…
By Betsy Calvert, Charlotte Sun Staff Writer, Apr 7, 2021 What happened? Stacks of waste water and phosphogypsum remain at the site of the defunct Piney Point phosphate plant mine in Bradenton. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency last Saturday after a significant leak of wastewater threatened to burst a system that…
By Jesse Mendoza, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, USA TODAY NETWORK, April 3, 2021 As yet another potential environmental disaster connected to the former Piney Point fertilizer processing plant along Tampa Bay in Manatee County unfolds, questions about accountability for the repeated problems loom. Elected officials and regulators at both the local and state levels have long grappled…
By Dr. Aaron Adams, published in the Boca Beacon, March 27,2021 What used to be an expansive seagrass flat, is now a mix of open sand and thick algae. The cancer of too many nutrients is spreading throughout Charlotte Harbor. This does not bode well for the long-term future of its legendary fisheries. I lived…
Dr. Richard Whitman will review the status and trends of recreational water quality of Charlotte County beaches at the next monthly meeting of the Environmental Caucus on Tuesday, April 6th at 1:30 pm. – His presentation will point out specific concerns, the need for pollution source identification, more timely notification, increased advisory reliability, and examples…
Editor’s note: Charlotte County comes in 5th amongst this ranking, worse than Sarasota County. The full report is available here. By Chad Gillis, Fort Myers News-Press, March 23, 2021 Coastal urbanization is the top factor driving pollution from the Tampa Bay area south to Collier County, and the water quality in many of those counties…
By DANIEL SUTPHIN, Charlotte Sun Staff Writer, Jan 13, 2021 ARCADIA — “Water is life, water is life,” Vicki Steiner pleaded to DeSoto County Commissioners Wednesday during a workshop in Arcadia on water quality and phosphate mining company Mosaic. Steiner, of DeSoto County, was one of a handful of Southwest Florida residents speaking out against…
By Betsy Calvert, Charlotte Sun Staff Writer, Nov 29, 2020 This aerial view of the planned community called West Port under development shows State Road 776/El Jobean Road at the bottom and U.S. 41 at the top. The Charlotte County Centennial Park is the green in the middle. The first model homes may go in…
By David Jones, Democratic Candidate for District 75, Florida House of Representatives Because of the current USA political system, whereby our officials are often elected by the size of their wallet or their beholden special interests, we can no longer exclusively trust our government to assure environmental justice. I believe that environmental protection should be…
Florida’s persistent blue-green algae problem in waterways has already been linked to respiratory problems. Now, a team of researchers, led by a University of Miami neurology professor, have found that the toxin in those algae blooms can lead to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a debilitating and progressive neurodegnerative disease that destroys nerve cells in the…
by Phyllis Wojcik, President, Charlotte County Democratic Environmental Council Over thirty individuals attended 24 Hours of Reality: Truth in Action on, a global conversation on the truth of the climate crisis and how we solve it. Alessia Leathers, a leader from The Climate Reality Project, joined volunteers around the world holding public presentations and conversations…
The Englewood Pioneer Days Parade on Saturday hosted a tremendous turnout by members of the Democratic Party. Our neighbors showed robust support with cheers and positive reactions to the festive Award-Winning float. More than two dozen members of the newly established Englewood Democratic Club were joined by members of the Charlotte Co. DEC, Democratic Club,…
The Florida Democratic Party has approved a new party platform which includes the Rights of Nature. This is believed to be the first time such a provision has been included in a state political party platform in the United States. The platform reads: We resolve to adequately protect our waters, support communities’ rights in reclaiming…
CharlotteDems.com Editor’s note: The following letter to the editor by CCDEC Secretary Jane Merriam was published in the Charlotte Sun on Friday, Oct. 4. Editor: The concentration levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have risen from 339 parts per million in 1980 to 408 parts per million in 2018. Global sea levels have…
About 100 people from five counties near Mosaic phosphate mining and fertilizer operations showed up at an open house Monday for a final chance to ask questions from state regulators and company representatives. Many people at the meeting noted hazardous waste has spilled into rivers and streams in the hundred-plus years of the phosphate industry…
Alexis Loukota is the vice president of the Youth Democratic Committee for Charlotte County. Asked why people might object to climate change policies, she said, “It’s nice to live in ignorant bliss.” “You don’t know how heartening it was to me to see all the young kids out here,” said Nancy Razvoza, president of the…
by Phyllis Wojcik, Charlotte County Democratic Environmental Caucus Chair The Charlotte County Democratic Environmental Caucus invites you and friends to join us on Saturday September 21, 2019 to clean-up the beaches and land area surrounding the beaches. There are a couple of locations to choose from where you can find us. Punta Gorda- Lashley Marina…
by Victor Coscia “Why spend the time going to school to learn if there will no planet left for us to live on when we get out?” This is a quote from Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old from Stockholm Sweden who walked out of classes several years ago to protest climate change. She was later joined…
A Port Charlotte girl said all you need is two hands and time to make the world a better place. Alexa Poulin is wearing a sash because she was just named “Today’s International Woman Junior Queen of Queens.” But Alexa’s reason for running was not to put on a crown. She ran to put an…