A roundup of news items related to climate change and other environmental issues in Florida:
A key portion of the Florida Wildlife Corridor will remain undeveloped | WUSF
What has been called one of the most vital “missing links” in the Florida Wildlife Corridor is going to be preserved forever.
The state has agreed to protect an area along Fisheating Creek in Highlands County. It’s called the Lightsey Family Ranch, 12,085 acres that is surrounded on all sides by previously preserved lands.
Among its neighbors are Archbold Biological Station, a renowned research center, and Fisheating Creek, the only free-flowing river into Lake Okeechobee.
Bill aims to curb ‘predatory behavior’ in controversial Florida improvement loan program | Miami Herald
Florida is on the verge of passing the strongest consumer protections in state history for a problem-plagued home loan program touted to help homeowners pay for energy efficiency projects like solar panels and hurricane protection like impact windows or new roofs.
The Property Assessed Clean Energy program — commonly known as the PACE — provides a funding option for people who don’t qualify for or want a bank loan. Instead, the often-expensive projects are paid through a lien added to the property tax bill. The program, while popular, also has drawn complaints from homeowners, critics and county tax collectors across the state who say some consumers have been left in the dark about the true cost of their projects and how the bill will be paid.
Florida’s house and senate are poised to pass bills this week addressing many of the issues consumer advocates have raised over the years, as outlined in a Miami Herald investigation last year. Some counties, including Miami-Dade, have already implemented some of these protections.
Rockefeller scion warns of deteriorating ocean conditions during Palm Beach lecture | Palm Beach Daily News
Climate change will pummel Florida, even with the gains made by statewide marine conservation efforts, conservation philanthropist David Rockefeller Jr. said Tuesday during lecture at The Beach Club in Palm Beach.
The Rockefeller scion cited rising sea levels, ocean temperatures and agricultural runoff as especially detrimental to the state whose economy is dependent on its shorelines.
“Florida’s shoreline gross state product or GSP is over $4 trillion,” Rockefeller said during the lecture organized by the Palm Beach Civic Association. “It’s two-and-a-half times its inland economy.”
If you have any news items of note that you think we should include in our next roundup, please email The Invading Sea Editor Nathan Crabbe at ncrabbe@fau.edu. Sign up for The Invading Sea newsletter by visiting here.
