Florida’s lakes, ponds, and rivers have been plagued by red tide and green algae, which grows faster because of fertilizer runoff from the grounds near the water. Many localities have banned the use of fertilizer near vulnerable water during the rainy season to protect water quality. The fertilizer encourages the growth of the slime in the water.
However, the legislature has passed a bill to stop these restrictions on fertilizer. The bill was based on research funded by the fertilizer industry. The legislative majority is destroying the environment, because the fertilizer industry can pay out more than environmental activists.
Florida legislators are poised to block one of the most effective tools local governments say they have to protect water quality in their communities in the face of red tide and blue-green algae outbreaks by banning rainy season restrictions on fertilizer use.
A measure quietly tucked into a budget proposal over the weekend, would prohibit at least 117 local governments from “adopting or amending a fertilizer management ordinance” during the 2023-24 budget year, requiring them to rely on less restrictive regulations developed by the University of Florida, which are supported by the state’s phosphate industry, the producers of fertilizer.
Legislative leaders tentatively agreed to a $116 billion budget on Monday and, with no public debate or discussion, included the fertilizer language that emerged late Sunday.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Wow, there is no limit to the category-5 hurricane of insanity gushing like hell-fire from Destructive Dangerously Deranged Despot DeSantis and his groveling MAGA RINO GOP minion majority in the Florida state legislature.
All I can say is, “SAD Flori-DUH,” emphasis on DUH….
I am staying away from Flori-DUH.
Lloyd, your comment is “right on.”
A wrecked hellscape inhabited by a moronic, uneducated people–quite the future is being built here.
And this is different from the past, minus a few decades?
In any event in 1964 LBJ frees the slaves and the party realignment completes. Since 68 the state voted Red 10 x vs 4. Twice voting for Democrats they thought were good old boys. Of Course they are over that now.
Florida is the place where algae comes to bloom because special interests own the government.
yup
It’s a nasty “red tide” in a couple of senses.
https://www.lelemoon.com/product/disney-desantis-2024-hat/?attribute_pa_color=black&attribute_pa_size=one-size&gclid=Cj0KCQjwr82iBhCuARIsAO0EAZwDaxqe0cRfNhyazEjW9AH8R3ww8RLQ_j0hjIhPkF9hvMTS2Cx5yFAaAuOOEALw_wcB
Fertilizers in the Florida Legislature ban restrictions on themselves.
Michelle Rhee now free to sell more bull hockey for Bill Gates and/or Scotts Miracle-Gro in Florida.
Disney World opens new ride, Pirates of the Caribbean Current.
2024 headline: “Florida bans un-bans”
2025: “Florida bans bans on unbans”
2026: “Florida duh bans duh bans uh bans” [sound of static then wind….]
This is not the fault of the fertilizer industry nor the politicians. Fertilized lush and weed free landscapes ARE what most Floridians want. (And many others elsewhere.) They will gladly dump more chemicals into the water too, while blaming enviros for the high cost. Only a much larger catastrophe has any possibility of changing enough minds.
fault of the fertilizer companies-
If I recall correctly, Miracle Gro is right wing. It’s based in Ohio where the politicians are so corrupt they get convicted e.g. former speaker of the house, Batchelder. And, the state is gerrymandered so that decent people can’t do anything about Republican plutocracy courtesy of Charles Koch.
Mark,
When the water is filled with algae , it will be too late
A few Republicans or, all of them, aren’t concerned about fascism.
Salon listed 6 megadonors who, “hold the GOP’s future in their hands.”
A number of them are attracted to the candidacy of DeSantis for POTUS. The list of 6 includes Miriam Adelson, Steve Schwartzman, Jeffrey and Janin Yass, Kenneth Griffen, Timothy Mellon and Thomas Peterffy.
Nothing wrong with Florida that a cut in Medicare benefits could not cure.
In more than one way.
If Flor-uh-duh started banning fertilizers, that would expose all the pieces of ___t in the legislature, wouldn’t it?
Manure is organic, you know.
Not the kind of manure coming from the cult. That’s some toxic sh!t.
I figure trying to keep fertilizer from the lakes and streams is “woke”. We can’t have that.
Only woke people care about the environment.
And when the algae blooms become too big, as they did in Lake Erie and Toledo a few years ago, Florida will be demanding federal resources and money. Grants, not loans.
Lake St.Mary’s in Jim Jordan’s district was toxic for a couple of years. The citizens, almost exclusively Republican, didn’t care. The concern of outsiders for the migratory birds led to action. The local community just ignored the ugliness associated with a deadly lake and avoided being in it.
As a generalization with a few exceptions, Jim Jordan’s constituents don’t think about things like the environment or fairness. As long as they get theirs, anything else is beyond their interest.
The residents are descended from German immigrants. They wrote sundown laws to keep Black people out.
They’re racist and conservative religious- it’s one dominant sect.
The young people who have values aligned with Democrats, moved away, went to college and didn’t return.
This fertilizer sh** is stupid, but wait a minute. How is this dumber than Common Core? It’s not.
NASA should send an exploratory team to Tallahassee in search of intelligent life.
In other news, Proud Boys, “stand back and stand by” . . .
for your prison terms to begin.
The conviction of the Proud Boys was indeed good news. Pride goeth before a fall. Are they Humble Boys now?
OMG. Hilarious!!!
I am totally and increasingly more perplexed, rebuffed, horrified by every word and proposal that comes out of the mouth of Des(Troy) antis. And what has happened to the good people of that state to allow his deplorable regime to continue? Has that state and republicans overall lost their minds?!?! From education, personal freedom, women’s rights, gender identification to God Only Knows What’s Next- I’m terrified to think what the future holds!! And of course, it’s not just Florida! This is “the epidemic” that will destroy our country! Our Fathers and Mothers fought so hard to defeat Hitler and his Nazi idealogy and here we go letting those very ideas invade the USA! Maybe the rising tides that will swallow Florida is just God’s plan to end the evil that is quickly growing there.
DeStroyantics?
“Florida legislators are poised to block one of the most effective tools local governments say they have to protect water quality in their communities…”
If the Republican claim to the crown of local control was not already dead in your mind, it should be now. Of course, anyone who believed any part of the local control narrative put out by conservatives has been isolated from reality.
yup
the other completely fanciful part of that narrative–being the party of working people, of Joe the Plumber
In other news, time to indict Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Rudy Guiliani, Sidney Powell, Lindsay Graham, Jim Jordan, and others for
seditious conspiracy
conspiracy to disrupt an official proceeding
conspiracy to keep members of Congress from carrying out their official duties
interference with the freedom of elections
Vote suppression