9-19-2010
Ron Littlepage is concerned about the health of the St. Johns River, but he’s cautiously optimistic. Let’s go to the text.
To be honest, the Earth didn't exactly move.
Yes, Ron, it did. It rotates at more than 1,000 miles per hour at the equator, so unless this St. Johns River Summit took place in some sort of super-fraction of a blink of an eye, the Earth moved. What? You didn’t mean that literally? OK, cool. But I’m just getting started on your bland, uninteresting summing up of zzzzzzzz......
Unfortunately, there were no hallelujah moments during last week's St. Johns River Summit.
You mean a bunch of bureaucrats and politicians and scientists got together to talk about the health of the river and there was not a beam of celestial light from on high, accompanied by a chorus of pre-pubescent Al Gores chanting about corporate polluters and excessive nutrient-rich runoff? Damn. Actually, I think that’s good (not to mention predictable), but then I’m one of those wacko hyper-rationalists who think we should do some science-y stuff to figure out what to do for the river.
It was generally agreed that an "Everglades" type commitment is needed to solve the problems affecting the river's health, but one wasn't forthcoming.
The first Everglades-type commitment was for the “Everglades,” (and why the quotes, Ron?) and involved the government (in this case the Army Corps of Engineers, hereafter referred to as The Government Guys You Should Be Wary Of) deciding the Everglades, or whatever the noble aboriginals called it, should hurry up and get its lazy ass to the sea. That didn’t work out well for anyone but the sugar interests.
About $12 billion is being spent to restore a portion of the River of Grass.
That’s the name. Why no quotation marks?
Kirby Green, executive director of the St. Johns River Water Management District, told those attending the summit that only a fraction of that - $1.3 billion - has been spent on the St. Johns, which runs 310 miles through the heart of Florida.
That’s because the huge amount of money spent trying to right the wrongs of The Government Guys You Should Be Wary Of is because Those Guys screwed things up very badly, and now that we’ve realized that original plan was a bad idea, it costs a lot of money to undo it. Also: the St. Johns runs 8,451 miles through Florida.
And funding is the key to restoring the river's health. Securing that funding will take a concerted effort from stakeholders along the entire river.
Excellent point. Doesn’t really matter what we actually do (and we need to do something) we just need to spend shitloads of money to do it. Especially compared to the ludicrous things they did to the Everglades back in 1435.
That could be a positive coming out of the summit,
spending more money, not figuring out what should be done
if the commitment to work together by counties along the river that sometimes have been at odds is carried through.
Look at the back end of that sentence. Is that American English?
There was one concrete proposal that would help with that effort.
Pave the river?
State Sen. John Thrasher said during one panel discussion that he would establish a "St. Johns River caucus" in the Legislature.
(in an angry Scottish accent) “That should do it.”
It will include the 24 state lawmakers whose districts border the river.
That would provide a mechanism to keep issues involving the river - from nutrient overloads to fish kills to algal blooms to bacteria contamination - in the forefront.
That's needed because finding the solutions and funding those that need money will, like it or not, require political support in Tallahassee. That's the nature of the game.
This is rather obvious, Ron, no? Do you have any, um, news to impart?
Thrasher said he had made a commitment to the late Sen. Jim King that he "would follow his great lead in working for the St. Johns River."
Fair enough.
This would be a step toward fulfilling that promise.
Maybe.
The summit was organized by the St. Johns River Alliance, which is made up of representatives from the entire length of the river.
So what?
The 300 or so people attending the event reflected that diversity.
300 people? The hell you say. That’s almost (but not quite) one per mile.
This was the first river summit since 2003. Let's not wait that long for another one.
At the next one, political leaders from all of the counties need to participate.
But didn’t you imply earlier, in that pidgin-English sentence, that there was broad participation from “counties along the river?”
And, if there's to be a serious effort to confront and solve the river's problems, such as nutrient overloads, the discussions need to be more balanced and not weighted in favor of utilities and other polluters.
And all issues need to be addressed, including the politically hot potato Ocklawaha River and the Rodman Reservoir.
“including the politically hot potato Ocklawaha River...” Jesus. Do you have an editor/did you take an English class? Kudos, though, for spelling the name of the river correctly.
The Ocklawaha is the St. Johns River's largest tributary, and the dam that's blocking it can't be ignored.
Discussions about restoring the river's health invariably include what the price tag would be, with some pretty wild claims from the polluters.
It would be helpful to your argument here to specify those claims and refute them. But what the hell, it’s probably close to quitting time.
Neil Armingeon, the St. Johns Riverkeeper, told those attending the summit that "we never talk about the value of the river."
Strictly speaking, not true, but we tend not to quantify the value, tending instead toward vague generalizations about quality of life.
He urged the alliance to come up with that value. "I would say it's priceless," Armingeon said.
He's right.
But you’re not going to say anything about the actual value? You, a working journalist, are going to go along with an advocate’s claim of ‘priceless?’ Cool.
Ron Littlepage is concerned about the health of the St. Johns River, but he’s cautiously optimistic. Let’s go to the text.
To be honest, the Earth didn't exactly move.
Yes, Ron, it did. It rotates at more than 1,000 miles per hour at the equator, so unless this St. Johns River Summit took place in some sort of super-fraction of a blink of an eye, the Earth moved. What? You didn’t mean that literally? OK, cool. But I’m just getting started on your bland, uninteresting summing up of zzzzzzzz......
Unfortunately, there were no hallelujah moments during last week's St. Johns River Summit.
You mean a bunch of bureaucrats and politicians and scientists got together to talk about the health of the river and there was not a beam of celestial light from on high, accompanied by a chorus of pre-pubescent Al Gores chanting about corporate polluters and excessive nutrient-rich runoff? Damn. Actually, I think that’s good (not to mention predictable), but then I’m one of those wacko hyper-rationalists who think we should do some science-y stuff to figure out what to do for the river.
It was generally agreed that an "Everglades" type commitment is needed to solve the problems affecting the river's health, but one wasn't forthcoming.
The first Everglades-type commitment was for the “Everglades,” (and why the quotes, Ron?) and involved the government (in this case the Army Corps of Engineers, hereafter referred to as The Government Guys You Should Be Wary Of) deciding the Everglades, or whatever the noble aboriginals called it, should hurry up and get its lazy ass to the sea. That didn’t work out well for anyone but the sugar interests.
About $12 billion is being spent to restore a portion of the River of Grass.
That’s the name. Why no quotation marks?
Kirby Green, executive director of the St. Johns River Water Management District, told those attending the summit that only a fraction of that - $1.3 billion - has been spent on the St. Johns, which runs 310 miles through the heart of Florida.
That’s because the huge amount of money spent trying to right the wrongs of The Government Guys You Should Be Wary Of is because Those Guys screwed things up very badly, and now that we’ve realized that original plan was a bad idea, it costs a lot of money to undo it. Also: the St. Johns runs 8,451 miles through Florida.
And funding is the key to restoring the river's health. Securing that funding will take a concerted effort from stakeholders along the entire river.
Excellent point. Doesn’t really matter what we actually do (and we need to do something) we just need to spend shitloads of money to do it. Especially compared to the ludicrous things they did to the Everglades back in 1435.
That could be a positive coming out of the summit,
spending more money, not figuring out what should be done
if the commitment to work together by counties along the river that sometimes have been at odds is carried through.
Look at the back end of that sentence. Is that American English?
There was one concrete proposal that would help with that effort.
Pave the river?
State Sen. John Thrasher said during one panel discussion that he would establish a "St. Johns River caucus" in the Legislature.
(in an angry Scottish accent) “That should do it.”
It will include the 24 state lawmakers whose districts border the river.
That would provide a mechanism to keep issues involving the river - from nutrient overloads to fish kills to algal blooms to bacteria contamination - in the forefront.
That's needed because finding the solutions and funding those that need money will, like it or not, require political support in Tallahassee. That's the nature of the game.
This is rather obvious, Ron, no? Do you have any, um, news to impart?
Thrasher said he had made a commitment to the late Sen. Jim King that he "would follow his great lead in working for the St. Johns River."
Fair enough.
This would be a step toward fulfilling that promise.
Maybe.
The summit was organized by the St. Johns River Alliance, which is made up of representatives from the entire length of the river.
So what?
The 300 or so people attending the event reflected that diversity.
300 people? The hell you say. That’s almost (but not quite) one per mile.
This was the first river summit since 2003. Let's not wait that long for another one.
At the next one, political leaders from all of the counties need to participate.
But didn’t you imply earlier, in that pidgin-English sentence, that there was broad participation from “counties along the river?”
And, if there's to be a serious effort to confront and solve the river's problems, such as nutrient overloads, the discussions need to be more balanced and not weighted in favor of utilities and other polluters.
And all issues need to be addressed, including the politically hot potato Ocklawaha River and the Rodman Reservoir.
“including the politically hot potato Ocklawaha River...” Jesus. Do you have an editor/did you take an English class? Kudos, though, for spelling the name of the river correctly.
The Ocklawaha is the St. Johns River's largest tributary, and the dam that's blocking it can't be ignored.
Discussions about restoring the river's health invariably include what the price tag would be, with some pretty wild claims from the polluters.
It would be helpful to your argument here to specify those claims and refute them. But what the hell, it’s probably close to quitting time.
Neil Armingeon, the St. Johns Riverkeeper, told those attending the summit that "we never talk about the value of the river."
Strictly speaking, not true, but we tend not to quantify the value, tending instead toward vague generalizations about quality of life.
He urged the alliance to come up with that value. "I would say it's priceless," Armingeon said.
He's right.
But you’re not going to say anything about the actual value? You, a working journalist, are going to go along with an advocate’s claim of ‘priceless?’ Cool.
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