Environmental Issues and Protection

Seismic Airgun Testing Will Kill or Injure 138,500 Whales and Dolphins If Allowed

If companies are allowed to use seismic airgun testing to search for and study oil and gas deposits in the Atlantic Ocean, 138,500 whales and dolphins will be harmed or killed -- and that's according to the government's own estimate. In addition, thousands of animals could have their hearing impaire ... More >>

Koch Brothers Should Stay Away From Sun Sentinel, Say 619 Locals and Counting in Online Petition

The idea of swallowing down morning coffee alongside some front-page libertarian bloviation courtesy of a Koch-owned Sun Sentinel isn't sitting too well with some. Last week, we sent out a smoke signal about the possible media sale everyone is talking about: The South Florida daily's parent -- the T ... More >>

Five Great Food Events This Weekend: Food Festivals, Earth Day, and More

We know you're sad about the end of yet another glorious workweek. Unfortunately kids, it's time to step away from your computers and get back into having a life. Obviously, this concept is something your going to have to get used to, but, don't fret, we're here to help. After the jump, we have a li ... More >>

DEP Proposes Allowing More Toxins in Water; Eating More Than Three Shrimp Per Week Dangerous, Critics Say

The environment hasn't been a high priority for legislators at any level since Al Gore was wearing earth tones, but what's happening in Florida under Rick Scott is downright scary. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is in serious fox-guarding-henhouse mode. Its current secretary ... More >>

Junk In, Junk Out

Mayan Beach Sand Dune Bulldozed; Sea Turtles Left Without Nesting Ground

Sad news today for South Florida environmentalists, sea turtles, and Mother Earth: After a circuitous and arguably shady legal battle, Fort Lauderdale's Mayan Beach Sand Dune was plowed over at some point in the past 48 hours. Even though an August court decision sealed the dune's fate, the destruct ... More >>

PEER Frets Over DEP Layoffs, Says More Cuts Likely

A recent round of job cuts at the Department of Environmental Protection has stoked the wrath of environmentalists. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility on Wednesday issued a statement blasting the DEP's decision to lay off 26 employees from the agency's Southwest District Office w ... More >>

New Noise Ordinance in Delray Beach Threatens Live Music; Deck 84 Fights Back with Petition Drive

A recent change to the noise ordinance governing downtown Delray Beach might mean the end of live music at Deck 84. According to Burt Rapoport, managing partner of Deck 84 and president of Rapoport's Restaurant Group which owns the downtown eatery, the sudden change came as a surprise. "A policeman ... More >>

Mike Woika, Assistant City Manager of Boca, Says City's Water is Perfectly Potable

Mike Woika sounded dismayed, perplexed, and just a tad angry as he worked his way through our post from last week about Boca Raton's water supply and a recent Notice of Violation handed down by the Palm Beach County Health Department.See also-Boca Raton Utility Order to "Immediately" Fix Water ... More >>

Littlejohn's Lobbying Firm Has More Family Ties With Department of Environmental Protection

See also "DEP Brass Jeff Littlejohn's Parents Own Lobbying Firm With Questionable Clientele" and "EPA Wants to Know if Herschel Vinyard Lied on His Resume"Earlier this week, we told you how Jeff Littlejohn, deputy secretary of regulatory programs at the Department of Environmental Protection, is the ... More >>

Can Vice Mayor Kristin Jacobs Save Broward From Climate Change?

Broward Vice Mayor Kristin Jacobs, who last year tried banning the sale of bongs, is the newest member of the Intergovernmental Coastal Oceans Task Force, a group of lawmakers and eco-experts appointed to protect us from the forthcoming watery woe of climate change.The group is said to represent the ... More >>

Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band on June 30 at Hard Rock Live

Outside Her Contempt Hearing, Sylvia Poitier Says She Respects the Government

Former Deerfield Beach Commissioner Sylvia Poitier doesn't want anyone to think she "doesn't respect government." It's important that she pointed that out, because you might mistakenly come to some other conclusion when you heard about she polluted land with dry-cleaning chemicals, then wouldn' ... More >>

Sierra Club Formally Opposes Southwest Ranches Detention Center

​Along with agitated residents and the entire city government of Pembroke Pines, here's another addition to the list of opponents to the planned immigration detention facility in Southwest Ranches: the local branch of the Sierra Club.The group released a formal resolution today opposing the constr ... More >>

Occupy Fort Lauderdale Releases Its "Declaration of Occupation"

​Almost three months after the first "Declaration of Occupation" was released by an Occupy camp -- the first one from the Occupy Wall Street outfit -- Occupy Fort Lauderdale has now aired its list of grievances.The 40 complaints are divided into four sections in the document, including sections on ... More >>

Opponents of ICE Jail Have New Tactic: Questioning Environmental Review Process

​Start inking up a big government contract with a for-profit company and you can bet your sweet tax dollars that things won't stay transparent for long.Which gives a nice boost of high ground to the people who are already fed up with an all-but-inked plan to bring an ICE detention facility to Sout ... More >>

Allen West: Obama's Delay of Keystone XL Pipeline is "Pathetic"

Rep. Allen West​Rep. Allen West isn't too happy about the State Department's decision -- or as West says, "Campaigner-in-Chief" Obama's decision -- to delay the Keystone XL Pipeline project, which means it's time for another rhetoric-loaded statement from the congressman.According to the State ... More >>

The Daily Show: McRib Bigger Than Global Warming

The McRib - causing a global commotion.​On last evening's The Daily Show, Jon Stewart reported that a study about global warming, funded in part by Tea Party backers/oilmen The Koch Brothers, found that, indeed, global warming exists.Stewart noted that this should have been the lead story of the d ... More >>

Rush Limbaugh Starts Selling Tea Out of Boca Raton Because "The Liberals Are Coming"

​If you haven't already been drinking Rush Limbaugh's Kool-Aid, now's your chance.Limbaugh, the conservative talk-show host and Palm Beach resident, has started his own line of bottled iced tea called Two if by Tea.Branded by Boca Raton-based Karhl Holdings LLC, a 12-pack of Rush's sauce -- includ ... More >>

Free Drinks, Free Cupcakes, Free Massage

Waste Management Goes Organic

Photo © London Permaculture/Flickr​ Yep, you heard that right. Waste Management Inc., the largest trash collector and processor in the United States, is opening up an organic recycling facility just south of Lake Okeechobee. The facility is designed to process food, yard waste, and clean wood int ... More >>

"Cool It" Tries the Environmental Hard Sell -- and Fails

Surfer Blood Headlines Lake Worth's Halloween Street Scene

UPDATED: Audit Questions $15 million in FEMA Funds Fort Lauderdale Spent After Hurricanes

Flickr user: Gary...Feds question Hurricane Wilma cleanup costs.​The Broward School Board is not alone in facing scrutiny for the millions of dollars in federal disaster funding it received after Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma. Federal auditors have also questioned $15.1 million in Federal Emergency ... More >>

Fair Trade

Former CEO of Broward Health Now Managing Louisiana's Health Response to Spill

Flickr: anslataadams​Maybe managing the massive, notoriously incestuous North Broward Hospital District wasn't enough of a challenge for Alan Levine. He left that post in December 2007 to become secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. In a little more than two years, he's ha ... More >>

Drill Bit: Allen West Calls Oil Rupture "Worrisome," Just Not Big Enough to Reverse Position on Drilling

Flickr: : HimUpNorth :Spill Schmill! West still wants to see oil rigs on the South Florida horizon.​The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico barely warranted mention in the "West Weekly Wrap-up" that congressional candidate Allen West sends along to his South Florida supporters. West supports d ... More >>

Say Hello to Your Mother for Me

Crist to Rubio: "Whooooo are you? (Who? Who?)

It looks like Charlie Crist campaign's decided to slug back at Rubio with the scandalous revelation that Rubio flip-flopped on cap-and-trade. Here's that just-released segment:But it's nowhere near as damning as Crist's support for the Obama stimulus. If Crist is going to try to win this race by out ... More >>

Florida Keys Nudie Calendar Features Ladies "Of a Certain Age"

Erika Biddle: Putting the sizzle back into environmentalism​When German-born Erika Biddle first set foot in Key West in 1994, she looked around and thought, "This is the only city I've ever visited where I'm not the most eccentric person around. Here, I'm the normal one!" Biddle had been an active ... More >>

Morning Juice: Coral Springs Teens Perish in Mysterious Car Crash; Pig Out in Southwest Ranches

​A peek at the local stories people are talking about on this Monday:Three Coral Springs teenagers are dead following a strange accident early Sunday  morning, which started with a fender bender. For some reason, the car accelerated away from the scene, then flipped into the canal. [WPLG]Bob ... More >>

It Is That Easy Being Green

State Sen. Aronberg Going After Contractors' Salaries

It could be a well-timed move to make him look like a crimefighting hero (it comes conveniently at the very same time that he's running for state Attorney General) but regardless, it's pretty cool that State Senator Dave Aronberg (D-Greenacres) is taking public officials to task for letting private ... More >>

Man Power is For the Man, Man!

We've Reached Our Zenith

Greenify Your Garb

Blowing in the Wind

Slap on Some Patchouli

Kick the Bottle

As the containers and costs mount, in South Florida and beyond, plastic is played out

Go BJ, it’s Your Earth Day

Best Power Couple

Mary and Kevin McCarty

Catch Me a Catch

A Palm Beach matchmaker is busted

Foodstuff

Slammin' Patties

Best Place to Take Out-of-Towners

Everglades Holiday Park

Best Topography

Broward County Interim Contingency Landfill

Picnic Paradise -- If You Own a Boat

Boaters Park

Postcards From the Edge

Peace and quiet, great fishing, tax-free land. Welcome to the Everglades, where "hunt camps" are enjoying a new lease on life.

Postcards From the Edge

Peace and quiet, great fishing, tax-free land. Welcome to the Everglades, where "hunt camps" are enjoying a new lease on life.

Life After Trash

Adding Fuel to the Mire

A million gallons of petroleum has leaked into the environment at Port Everglades. So what's being done about it? Nothing.