Florida Sierra News
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Press Release: WE DESERVE BETTER: Stop the Burn-Go Green Harvest activists call out the complicit
September 30, 2021
For Immediate Release
Contacts: Robert Mitchell,MuckCityBLM@gmail.com,(323) 395-6895; Colin Walkes,cokijo@yahoo.com, (561) 475-9227
**PRESS RELEASE**
WE DESERVE BETTER
Stop the Burn-Go Green Harvest activists call out the complicit
BELLE GLADE--On Thursday, September 30, the Stop the Burn-Go Green Harvest Campaign leadership releaseda statement marking the beginning of the 2021-22 pre-harvest burn season which has been sent, with an accompanyingvideo, to those current public officials named in the statement.Statement:
“On the eveof yet another pre-harvest sugar field burn season, the Stop the Burn-Go Green Campaign leadership has a message for all those in power who are callously complicit in the continuance of the outdated, toxic, and racist practice of pre-harvest sugar field burning: We deserve better.
Despite recent ground-breaking and revelatory investigative reporting uncovering (1) the lengths to which the sugar industry will go to stop us from improving our lives and our community, and (2) data which further supports existing mountains of medical research from around the world substantiating the common-sense understanding that pre-harvest sugar field burning pollution is harmful, the next harvesting season is set to beginon October 1. Residents in and around the Everglades Agricultural Area will once again be bombarded by toxic smoke and ash that needlessly threatens their health, pocketbooks, quality of life, and surrounding environment for the sake of a cheaper harvest for the multi-billion-dollar Florida sugar industry.We deserve better.
Commissioner Fried’s indifference to our plight is a crime. She has failed to reflect her party’s work championing the rights of the disenfranchised by refusing to lift a finger to end an injustice that she alone, as Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture, has the power and authority to right. We deserve better.
Our local elected officials have betrayed us. They have ignored the benefits of green harvesting to our economy, public health, and our children’s future. Whether because ofgreed, fear, or cowardice, they have promoted the status quo,by parroting Big Sugar propaganda, to the detriment of their constituents’ lives and livelihoods. When it comes to the sugar industry, they sell us out, every time. We deserve better.
Our state lawmakers act only to further condemn us to the dangers of smoke and ash. Big Sugar gets what Big Sugar wants from the state legislature and Governor DeSantis. The passage of SB 88 the “right to harm act” this past legislative session was a case in point. We deserve better.
Our members of Congress have failed us. After hearing the truth reported by the Palm Beach Post and ProPublica, US Congress Members Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Lois Frankel, and Ted Deutch called for additional studies and monitoring of the pollution that chokes our families. Where are their calls for an end to this outdated, toxic, racist practice? Why should we have to wait for studies when Eastern Palm Beach County residents have been protected for 30 years without that extra data? It is so very easy to call for more data -- a popular move by politicians and candidates alike -- which can be tossed to the press without putting their sugar industry campaign donation hush money at risk. Anything less than calling for the sugar industry to immediately begin the phase out of pre-harvest sugar field burning is simply political theater.
The Federal Sugar Program, faithfullypassed by Congress, provides sugar producers with wildly high profits nearly twice, on average, as high per pound than what sugar is worth on the global market, thereby removing any incentive to modernize. Sugar growers in Thailand, Australia, Brazil, India, Zimbabwe have eschewed pre-harvest burning and have moved towards burn-free green harvesting because it is the right thing to do for its neighbors, the environment, and their own long-term economic benefits. The cruel avarice of US Sugar and Florida Crystals and their purchase of our nation’s members of Congress combine to keep us shrouded in smoke and ash. We deserve better.
U.S. Sugar’s propaganda—via billboards, mailers, paid advertisements, and false narratives—is a direct attack on our communities. The use of multiple operatives acting on U.S. Sugar’s behalf, under the guise of S.A.F.E. Communities, Glades Lives Matter, and the Clewiston Chamber of Commerce, Lake Okeechobee Business Alliance, is a shameless, ruthless attempt to deny us a brighter future. Lies and innuendo are U.S. Sugar’s most promoted product. We deserve better.
Florida Crystals has wasted its opportunity to lead the way on green harvesting and denied itself and its neighbors the benefits that come from burn-free sugar production. Their production of organic sugar in the Glades proves that they can and do green harvest (sugar cannot be labeled “organic” if burned pre-harvest) but they refuse to fully embrace it. We deserve better.
The Florida Forest Service (FFS) approves over 11,000 burn permits each year, only when the black snow won’t blow toward Eastern Palm Beach County. Because burns cannot be permitted if the wind will send smoke and ash towards the eastern communities, we get smothered by it. The state's sugarcane burning program is managed solely for the profits of the sugar industry, not for any ecological welfare or wildfire prevention and completely contrary to public health, real estate values, economic growth, and quality of life of all who live in and around the Everglades Agricultural Area. If burning is not allowed when smoke and ash is headed toward Eastern Palm Beach County, then it shouldn’t be allowed when it blows toward Belle Glade, Clewiston, Indiantown, Ortona, Pahokee, or South Bay. We deserve equal treatment and protection.
Palm Beach County Department of Health’s protection of the sugar industry casts serious doubt on the integrity of the entire agency. Shielding Big Sugar from the responsibility it has to protect public health is unconscionable, a true perversion of the agency’s mission, and a betrayal of public trust. Director Dr. Alina Alonso’s failure to respond to or address public health issues related to the smoke and ash that pervades the Glades and beyond would be hard to believe if we were not well-versed in Big Sugar’s manipulation of state agencies and their leaders. We deserve better.
The Palm Beach County School Board has sold its soul, and the welfare of its students, to Big Sugar. The black snow that can travel well over twenty miles impacts every school, school child, and educator in the EAA should have long ago prompted the school board to oppose pre-harvest burning. Instead, the district adds insult to injury by leasing land adjacent to Rosenwald Elementary School in South Bay, Pahokee Middle-High School, and the district’s bus depot in Belle Glade, where known toxic pollutants are emitted from pre-harvest sugar field burning. Our children, teachers, and school staff deserve better.
Too many in power either actively participate in or abet one of the most pronounced examples of environmental racism found in the state of Florida. We deserve better.
We call on all who have been complicit to change their course. Cease to be a part of the problem and join our demand for a phaseout of pre-harvest sugar field burning that begins with an immediately implemented 27-mile no-burn zone around impacted communities. Because we deserve better.
This Statement comes not from “outsiders,” but real community residents and leaders!”
Signed,
Fred Brockman - Belle Glade
Sister Laura Cavanaugh - Belle Glade
June Downs - Indiantown
Anne Haskell - Belle Glade
Brittany Ingram - Belle Glade
Elaine Lavallee - Indiantown
Catherine Martinez - West Palm Beach
Steve Messam - Belle Glade
Elena Michel - Belle Glade
Robert Mitchell - Belle Glade
Kina Phillips - South Bay
Shanique Scott - South Bay
Colin Walkes - Pahokee
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September 30, 2021 “We Deserve Better”statement
Video version of September 30, 2021 “We Deserve Better” statement
Stop the Burn—Go Green Harvestwebsite
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Rep. Murphy: Don’t Undermine Climate Action
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
CONTACT: Adam Beitman, adam.beitman@sierraclub.org
Sierra Club to Rep. Murphy: Don’t Undermine Climate Action
A Few House Democrats Threaten Progress on the Most Important Climate Legislation In U.S. History
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A small group of House Democrats, including Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Florida’s 7th Congressional District, have threatened to halt progress on the most important climate legislation in U.S. history and the only potential vehicle for major action on climate, care, jobs, and justice in near term view.
This comes on the heels of dire warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that the extreme weather events we’re already experiencing — including historic droughts, superstorms, record-breaking wildfires, and unprecedented coastal flooding — will continue to rapidly worsen unless the world cuts all carbon pollution in half by 2031.
Other House members who are presenting obstacles to much-needed community investments are Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Filemon Vela of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Ed Case of Hawaii, Jim Costa of California, Carolyn Bourdeaux of Georgia, and Kurt Schrader of Oregon.
In response, Sierra Club Florida Chapter Chair Steve Wonderly released the following statement:
“We are disappointed that Congresswoman Murphy is threatening the passage of such an important piece of legislation. Her constituents in Florida will benefit significantly from the budget reconciliation bill and are relieved to see federal action on the climate crisis through investment in improved transit and the expansion of clean energy, not to mention the resulting family-sustaining jobs. Congress can pass both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the budget reconciliation bill; there is no reason to give up leverage now. We encourage Congresswoman Murphy to reconsider her decision.”
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Governor DeSantis: Stop the Greenwash!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3,2021
Contact: Cris Costello, 941-914-0421,cris.costello@sierraclub.org
**PRESS RELEASE**
Governor DeSantis: Stop the Greenwash!
Hold Polluters Accountable
TAMPA—Today Sierra Club Florida responded to Governor DeSantis’ actions regarding the recent Red Tide outbreak and the state’s wider water quality crisis in the following letter:
August3, 2021
The Honorable Ron DeSantis
Plaza Level, The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399
RE: Stop the Greenwash and Hold Polluters Accountable
Dear Governor DeSantis:
Sierra Club, the oldest, largest environmental advocacy organization in the nation with more than 240,000 members and supporters in Florida wants to set the record straight. Yet anothersummer of slime has unfolded in Florida and we all have been horrified by the devastation to our environment, coastal economy, and quality of life. Our current reality is of course no surprise to anyone – your administration’s failure to implement or even encourage or promote stopping pollution at its source makes our repeatedly toxic waterways inevitable.
All hands are noton deck. Since your election, there has been little to show for all of your “all hands on deck” rhetoric. Photo ops, heralded appointments, and multiple task forces have been all greenwash, an insidious greenwash that makes your inaction even more dangerous to the taxpayers of this state. The most glaring example is your failure to champion legislation that would have implemented the recommendations of your Harmful Algae Bloom/Red Tide and Blue Green Algae Task Forces.
Control and mitigation research and technologies and states of emergencies keep taxpayers on the “clean-up” treadmill but do nothing to stop pollution at its source. “After-the-fact” attentionto harmful algal outbreaks is not what Florida needs.
The system is rigged. How many times have environmentalists brought in experts, submitted comments, attended meetings, and served on technical advisory committees or task forces just to have their input ignored in order to make way for whatever the “regulated industry” (the polluter) desired? The public participation process has become yet another way to give your administration a toxic coat of greenwash.
Your dismissal of Piney Point's role in fueling red tide in Tampa Bay is reckless. There is no question that Piney Point has both fueled and intensified this red tide bloom. When you make public statements claiming that red tide blooms are “naturally occurring” and dismiss Piney Point you spread a dangerous false narrative that works to protect polluters from meaningful accountability. Rats are naturally occurring, but we know not to dump household garbage in the streets so as to avoid feeding a rat population explosion. Likewise, the science community has made it clear that dumping nutrient pollution (agricultural and urban fertilizer, animal manure, and sewage) into receiving water bodies, especially ones warmed by climate change, fuels harmful algae and increases the intensity and duration of toxic outbreaks. Your use of “naturally occurring” is a big red flag that the phosphate industry has you in its pocket.
Until pollution is stopped at its source, polluters will go on setting taxpayers up for a never-ending series of costly clean-ups. If we want to get off of the expensive clean-up treadmill, you and your Administration need to champion the strict regulation of the state’s major polluters. The status quo is to give polluters everything they want where water quality legislation and agency action are concerned. That needs to end if we are to fix Florida’s water quality crises.
If you truly believe in “protecting Florida together,” you will end your greenwash campaign. It is time for you to direct your agencies and the legislature to exchange the greenwash for direct, enforced, restorative regulatory action.
Respectfully,
Sierra Club Organizing Representative
Red Tide-Wildlands Campaign
2022 Hendry Street, Suite 250
Fort Myers, FL 33901
386-341-4708
michael.mcgrath@sierraclub.org
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Stop The Burn-Go Green Harvest Campaign Statement on Pending NASA Sugar Field Burning Study
The announcement of the upcomingNASA-funded study highlights the growing public awareness of the injustice posed by the toxic, outdated, and unnecessary practice of pre-harvest sugar field burning. It is a testament to how impacted community leaders in and around the Everglades Agricultural Area, persisting in speaking truth to power for six years, have elevated this issue to a national level, and we are grateful for the attention.
However, although we are not against science or the collection of new data, and are not opposed to the new NASA-funded study, we are wary of it when it may be used against our call for an immediate remedy. Waiting for data before action is taken is kicking the can down the road.
Florida and the nation have a long history of data and research on environmental hazards not translating into meaningful environmental laws or regulations. Cancer Alley in Louisiana, an 85-mile stretch of petrochemical manufacturing facilities along the Mississippi River, serves as an unfortunate example of how increased air quality monitoring aloneis no guarantee that environmental justice will be achieved. A 2015 EPA report confirmed that census blocks within the heart of the chemical industry in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley have a cancer risk rate 50-times the national average, and in response, the EPA set up air quality monitoring stations at six separate locations in St. John’s Parish. Despite the EPA monitors consistently recording cancer-causing chloroprene emissions dozens of times higher than EPA recommendations, including one instance in 2017 when chloroprene levels were measured at 755 times the EPA recommended guidelines, true protective regulations on regional polluters have not been implemented.
Denka Performance Elastomer, one of the main corporate polluters in the region responsible for the dangerous levels of chloroprene in the region, has used tactics straight out of Big Sugar’s playbook to cast doubt on scientific research, leverage their resources to obtain lenient state and federal regulators, and drum up support from local politicians representing fence line communities who have ties to the industry.
It is not lost on us that communities of color and lower-wealth neighborhoods, like those in Cancer Alley and in the Glades, are constantly being told to wait, wait until it is politically expedient, wait until the next election, wait until the study is done.
Cancer Alley and the Everglades Agricultural Area highlight the reality that there are two standards of environmental protection in the United States: those afforded to predominantly White higher-wealth communities and those afforded to communities of color and lower-wealth communities. In 1991, public outcry from residents in Eastern Palm Beach County brought about new wind direction-based sugar field burning regulations to protect them without the need of any expensive studies to prove their communities were being harmed by the toxic smoke and ash. Studying, which takes time and money that could be instead spent on the transition toward burn-free green harvesting, rather than phasing out the toxic practice immediately, is a form of environmental racism.
Why are we expected to wait for more data? Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried and her administration have ignored an existingmountain of data on the negative impacts of sugar cane burning.
Commissioner Fried has full authority to add meaningful protections for the communities impacted by toxic sugarcane burning. Commissioner Fried has ignored along line of public demands for her administration to act. We are not less deserving of quick action than the residents of Wellington, and after 30 years, this disparate treatment is clearly an example of environmental racism.
Even if new data from the NASA study leads to strong regulatory action to end pre-harvest sugar field burning, residents in and around the Everglades Agricultural Area will continue to have their health, quality of life, local economy, and natural environment polluted by pre-harvest sugar field burning for at least 18 more months, when the study is to conclude. We are once again threatened by the next burn season that begins on October 1. We are done waiting.
No new data will make it more necessary to stop pre-harvest sugar field burning. Who doesn't already know that breathing toxic smoke is bad for you? Why else would the Center for Disease Control (CDC) encourage the cessation of agricultural fires during the Covid pandemic? It isn't rocket science. Sugar growers around theworldhave already modernized and transitioned toward burn-free green harvesting. The phase-out of burning in Florida should begin immediately.
Stop The Burn-Go Green Harvest Leadership Team
Fred Brockman
Sister Laura Cavanaugh
June Downs
Anne Haskell
Brittany Ingram
Elaine Lavallee
Catherine Martinez
Steve Messam
Elena Michel
Robert Mitchell
Kina Phillips
Shanique Scott
Kathey Sullivan
Richard Sullivan
Colin Walkes
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PB Post/ProPublica takes aim at Big Sugar’s smokescreen
On July 8, 2021, the Palm Beach Post, in partnership with ProPublica, published a powerfuldata-driven investigative reporthighlighting the environmental injustice of pre-harvest sugar field burning. This coverage is the latest addition to a growing mountain of research and reporting on the threats from sugarcane field burning. The truth uncovered in the report is nothing new to Glades residents who have had to endure the toxic impacts from sugarcane burning on their health, quality of life, and pocketbooks for decades, but this reporting by the Palm Beach Post/ProPublica spells it out for the rest of us:
Since the community leaders of the Stop, The Burn Campaign Go Green Campaign first beganspeaking truth to power about the toxic, outdated, and racist practice in 2015, the Big Sugar propaganda machine has been churning out lies and misinformation in response, some of which would becomical but for the damage, it does to community unity and understanding
When science lines up against the sugar industry’s air quality claims, US Sugar has always fallen back on claiming the information is biased or wrong because the science is linked to the “big bad Sierra Club” and the many imagined conspiracy theories they have concocted against us. This time, the Palm Beach Post and ProPublica beat US Sugar to the punchline.
The investigative report underscores the Stop the Burn-Go Green Harvest campaign demand for aburn-free buffer zone within a 27-mile radius of surrounding communities. Considering themany benefits of green harvesting and the win-win-win situation it is for all parties involved, including the sugar industry itself, how long will the sugar industry persist in its malevolent defense of the known toxic practice of sugarcane burning? How long will Commissioner Fried remain complicit in the environmental racism of this practice by refusing to provide real protection for the impacted communities within and around the Glades?
Tell commissioner Fried to actnow.
Sugar field burn in South Bay, FL (April 2021)
