Millions for Everglades restoration in jeopardyBy CURTIS MORGAN and LESLEY CLARK
May 22, 2006
WASHINGTON — With a court-imposed deadline to clean up pollution in the Everglades seven months away, Florida officials -- led by Gov. Jeb Bush -- have pursued a public-relations blitz to tout the state's progress:
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At the same time that they trumpeted ''unprecedented success,'' Bush, environmental Secretary Colleen Castille and South Florida water managers also pushed to end 14 years of oversight by federal judges in Miami and close the books on the landmark settlement that ordered the cleanup and set a date to get it done -- Dec. 31.
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But all of Jeb's meddling in DC about this since early this year has finally ticked off lawmakers enough that they threatened to cut off the federal funds for the almost $11 billion Everglades restoration plan. Thanks, Jeb.
The lawmakers warned that if Jeb tries to terminate the "consent decree" by the state of Florida to clean up the 'Glades as ordered by the courts, this federal money will disappear.
The message from the House Appropriations Committee is ``They don't want the state in any way, shape or form to weasel out of the consent decree.''
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During one visit to Washington last month, Gov. Bush confirmed that the state's ultimate goal was to end the consent decree but stressed that federal oversight would remain strong -- just shifted from a courtroom to the Environmental Protection Agency, which monitors states' compliance with federal water-quality laws.
The governor said the state's aim has been misunderstood.
''It's never been our intention to have the federal government abrogate its responsibilities. That would be completely inappropriate,'' Bush later told The Miami Herald. But, he added, ``It's an unnatural position for a federal judge to be responsible for the administering of state law. I'm generally against that across the board.''
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Yeah, unless it's Bush v. Gore.
(And we all know how well the Bush administration's EPA does its job.)
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