Constitutional Law

A Sweet Deal in the Everglades?

The recent buyout of a major sugar enterprise for environmental purposes by the state of Florida is having some unintended market consequences, according to a lengthy report in the New York Times. 

In an effort led by Governor Charlie Crist, Florida is set to finalize the purchase of the United States’ Sugar Corporation, one of the state’s two biggest sugar ventures, in early 2009.  The move is a purported first step in the environmental clean-up of the Everglades, which have been polluted by fertilizer runoff from sugar cane growers.  The increased pollution is in part the result of the shrinking of Lake Okeechobee, which the purchase and environmental restoration seeks to reverse. 

After the “federal government diked the lake and drained lands around it after devastating hurricanes in 1928 and 1947,” the marshlands’ only source of freshwater was eliminated.  This new dry land was used for sugar cane production, which led to increased phosphorous pollution in the runoff from fertilizer used by cane growers. While the purchase has been celebrated by environmentalists, others have raised concerns about the significant benefits that Florida Crystal, the other major sugar corporation in the state, stands to gain. 

Full post as published by ACS Blog on September 17, 2008 (boomark / email).