As soon as next Thursday St. Petersburg City Council will vote to regulate single-use plastics; council will consider an outright ban on all plastic straws in restaurants, with an exception for people who have a medical necessity and it will also vote on a ban on polystyrene containers on public property. WMNF News interviewed Brian… Read more »
Facts vs POTUS: Climate change, Saudi Arabia, elections, courts, and more
Read MoreThe 4th National Climate Assessment has been released and it's not good
Read MoreRed tide lingers on Pinellas beaches and in Tampa Bay
Read MorePollution & climate change are topics in red tide roundtable
Read MorePuzzling Electoral Behavior, Explained on Life Elsewhere
Read MoreFrom the Beaches to the Springs How Do We Protect Florida's Waters?
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Worried about red tide on Pinellas beaches? "Plan ahead and call ahead"
Read MoreRed Tide shows up in Senate race and by Pinellas beaches
Read MoreWoman Banned From Pinellas County Park For Objecting To The Application Of Roundup
Read MoreElectric & Hybrids Cars on The Sustainable Living Program
Read MoreEnvironmental lawyer decries rollback of coal ash regulation
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Manatee deaths on the rise in Florida, partially due to toxic red tide algae
In first 8 months of year, manatee death toll surpasses 2017 By TAMARA LUSH, Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — This year hasn’t been a good one for the Florida manatee. According to state wildlife statistics, there have been more manatee deaths so far this year than all of last year. A total of 540… Read more »
Community Gardens on the Sustainable Living Program
On Monday’s Sustainable Living Program our topics were community gardens how cities can transform their corporate dependent food supply systems to local, people friendly, city grown systems. Our guests were panelists on the upcoming Bridge Tampa Foundation’s forum and film about Edible Cities. The Bridge is a local non-profit Foundation that connects community and ecology…. Read more »
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Top Environmentalist Warns Florida Springs and Freshwater Aquifer Are at Risk
Florida springs and aquifer at risk warns top environmentalist This year the environment is emerging as a top issue in both the primary and the general election. The Democrats have been debating who is closer to Big Sugar and a mall to be built by a Graham family company near the Everglades. Candidates are attacking… Read more »
Florida’s coral disease outbreak is most “extensive” ever: scientist
A devastating coral disease continues to spread through Florida’s reefs and scientists say it may cause some coral species to go locally extinct; on WMNF’s MidPoint we spoke with Greta Aeby, a coral disease ecologist who is studying this disease outbreak at the Smithsonian Marine Station in Ft. Pierce. Aeby is a research associate with… Read more »
Sheriff in Florida Panhandle laments confusion from new beach law
Update: Since this story aired, the News Service of Florida is reporting that, ‘Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order Thursday to block state agencies from taking action on a bill he signed into law earlier this year that critics of the measure warned from the outset could limit the public’s access to beaches. Scott’s… Read more »
Lake Okeechobee algae bloom spreading toward both Florida coasts
Because of recent heavy rains, huge algae blooms from polluted Lake Okeechobee are once again racing toward Florida’s west and east coast as water is released from the quickly-filling lake. Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch is the former mayor of Sewell’s Point, near where the St. Lucie River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. WMNF News spoke with her… Read more »
1 million Florida homes at risk of chronic floods by 2100: UCS study
A new report by the Union of Concerned Scientists says “within the next 30 years, roughly 64,000 homes in Florida … will be at risk” of chronic floods from sea-level rise. On WMNF’s MidPoint we spoke about this report with UCS senior climate scientist, Kristy Dahl, and with Susan Glickman, who is working to create a… Read more »
St. Pete City Council committee favors voluntary plastic straw reduction over ban
Next month, St. Pete City Council will consider an ordinance to comprehensively look at how the city deals with all kinds of disposable plastics: from straws, to bags and polystyrene containers. In a committee today the focus was entirely on plastic straws: should there be a ban – as requested by environmentalists – or a… Read more »
The Misunderstood Affliction + Two Songs You May Have Missed
Julie Rehmeyer was so sick she sometimes couldn’t turn over in bed. The top specialists in the world were powerless to help, and scientific research on her disease was at a near standstill. She was running out of money. And she was all alone, with no one to care for her. This is the beginning… Read more »
Environmentalist wary of Mosaic moving corporate headquarters to Hillsborough
The giant fertilizer company Mosaic announced last week that it plans to move its corporate headquarters from Minnesota to Hillsborough County; the announcement by the Fortune 500 company was greeted by many local leaders with delight. But environmentalists, like Suncoast Waterkeeper Andy Mele, accuse Mosaic of being a detriment to the community. “I think Mosaic’s… Read more »
Hands Across the Sand 2018 preview
Every spring, beach lovers across Florida – and in other parts of the world – gather to hold Hands Across the Sand to oppose offshore oil and gas drilling. Jana Wiggins is a volunteer with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Rise Above Plastics and is helping to organize what might be the Tampa Bay area’s… Read more »
Wetlands scientists support states’ lawsuit to save Clean Water Rule
Several states are suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for putting on hold an Obama-era rule to protect wetlands and waterways. And this month an organization of wetlands scientists filed a brief with the court in support of those states and the Clean Water Rule of 2015. Royal Gardner,… Read more »
Zinke: “no new oil and gas platforms off the coast of Florida”
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said again Thursday that there will be no new oil and gas platforms off the state of Florida; his position on drilling off the coasts of Florida has been confusing this year. He was challenged Thursday in a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing by Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen regarding draft regulations… Read more »
