The Florida State Legislature is once again considering a piece of legislation that threatens both Everglades restoration and general conservation in the Sunshine State. And if you guessed the behemoth sugar industry was somehow involved, you’re correct. When it comes to protecting South Florida’s waterways, Captains For Clean Water is not one to back down from a fight. Today, they are sounding the alarm and activating support throughout the country to defeat a single provision that could upend so much great work in the state.
What is the issue, specifically? Florida’s SB 290/HB 433, one of Florida’s Farm Bills, includes a disparagement clause provision that could financially punish citizens, nonprofits, and journalists for speaking out about agricultural practices that impact Florida’s waterways. Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson is one of the driving force behind the bill, and he was also one of the major advocates of the now widely criticized SB 2508 which Captains for Clean Water activated thousands of advocates against.
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“A part of the bill expands legal tools for expensive lawsuits against people who publicly criticize agricultural practices—including practices that impact Florida’s waterways—and it gives one-way attorney’s fees to the winning side,” wrote Captains for Clean Water.
“This is an urgent threat for anyone who cares about accountability, clean water, and the ability to raise concerns without fear of being bankrupted. Protecting Florida’s waters depends on people speaking up, but this bill could discourage exactly that kind of public accountability by making it riskier to talk about practices that impact water quality.”
Head on over to Captains for Clean Water today and take action! Protecting Florida’s clean waterways is hard enough as is…the last thing we need is to make it easier for polluters to silence and intimidate conservation advocates.
