Category: Editorial
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Vanishing Swifts: UK Birds in “Freefall” – Is Florida Next?
The UK’s guardian published an opinion piece this week on the severe decline that they call a “Freefall” of the Swift, a migratory bird that summers in England and winters in Africa. The author laments that this Spring has seen a near complete absence of the migratory species. A graphic from the British Trust of…
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Leaf Blowers: More Harm Than Good & Five Reasons to Let Them Go
by Dell deChant Lately there has been a spate of articles in big-time publications about gas-powered leaf blowers and their harm to the environment. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The New Haven Register, Audubon Magazine, and Yale Climate Connections all have recently weighed in on the topic. Of course, leaf…
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There Is No Once and For All Only More Once Agains
by Dell deChant It is amusing in a grim Greek-tragic sort of way hearing Florida’s Governor and other public officials boast about ending the environmental threat of the Piney Point gypsum stack – once and for all. Those were the exact words of Noah Valenstein, Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, on April 13,…
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Guest Column: Local Food, National Security
BY JESSE HASKINS • AGRICULTURE LAW Photo: American Phytopathological Society, Rye infected with ergot In 6th century B.C.E., the Assyrians, in modern day Iraq, poisoned enemy wells with rye ergot, a fungus disease. Imagine seeing a person suffering ergotism. The first victim of bioterrorism in recorded history may have felt a violent burning. “Holy fire” became the nickname…
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POSTPONED – Florida Loquat Festival to be held later in 2020
Florida Loquat Festival News – No. 39 March 20, 2020 Celebrating Florida’s Urban Fruit An Ecology Florida/Friendship Farms & Fare Annual Event Published by Ecology Florida and Friendship Farms & Fare https://www.ecologyflorida.org/ Find the Florida Loquat Festival on Facebook The Newsletter of The Florida Loquat Festival SPECIAL EDITION Festival Postponed Florida Loquat News The Newsletter…
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500 Million Plastic Straws a Day? Let’s Go With the Paper
Part I of a three-part series on plastics an Ecology Florida Editorial A trending ecological initiative is the contra-straw movement. USA Today has a good short article on the “anti-straw movement,” and Fast Company has an article about cities that have banned or are considering banning the plastic drinking tubes. As it pertains to Florida,…
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Christmas Heat and Cool Projects for the New Year
by Dell deChant Tampa recorded a record-high temperature for Christmas Day this year — 86 degrees, a little “Christmas Heat.” The old record was 83, reached in 1984, 1942 and 1911. Tampa’s high was also the highest ever recorded for any day in December in this part of Florida. Here at our little organic farm…
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A Land With Too Much Plenty: Food Collapse and Florida’s Future
A Land with too Much Plenty: Food Collapse and Florida’s Future Not Feeling the Pinch in the Land of More Than Enough, Joel Bourne’s The End Of Plenty, Food Collapse and the Florida Future Editorial: Ecology Florida Did you get enough to eat yesterday? For folks reading this article, the answer is probably “yes.” “Yes,…
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Defending Our Monarchs: Action Can Help Butterflies
Ecology Florida Staff Ecology Florida supports the addition of Monarchs to the Endangered Species List A timely report from Organic Consumers Association has been released with an emphatic headline: “Save the Monarch from Monsanto.” The report advocates support for a petition generated by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Center for Food Safety, which seeks protection for…
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Dow’s New Poison Threatens Bees
Dow’s New Poison Threatens Bees Ecology Florida News Editorial “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” – attributed to Albert Einstein. The EPA approved a powerful new…