The Latest by David Guest

Managing Attorney

David Guest worked at Earthjustice from 1990 to 2016, as the managing attorney of the Florida regional office. His countless legal battles were, in one way or another, all about water. His motivation to protect Florida’s water came from years of running boats in the state’s rivers and lakes, which convinced him that waterways are many people’s spiritual connection to nature.

November 17, 2008

Ending A Flood of Waste in Florida

By David Guest

Smack in the middle of a groundwater shortage that had Southwest Florida officials begging people to use as little water as possible, agricultural operations opened their pumps wide and flooded millions of gallons of water wastefully over their fields. They had legal permits to do this, permits issued by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, …

October 22, 2008

Florida Takes On Global Warming

By David Guest

I just finished a year-long appointment on Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s Action Team on Energy and Climate Change. We released a blueprint that, if put into action, would make Florida one of America’s most aggressive states in tackling climate change. We studied the gamut: alternative energy sources, vehicle emissions, landfill gases, forestry practices, building construction, …

October 13, 2008

Corps Suspends Phosphate Mine Permit

By David Guest

We won a significant victory in our phosphate case on Oct. 6. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suspended a permit that gave Mosaic Phosphate the go-ahead to destroy 480 acres of high-quality wetlands within Southwest Florida’s Peace River watershed. Our court case is ongoing, but the Corps decision to suspend the permit shows that …

September 29, 2008

Battle Over Peace River Phosphate

By David Guest

The phosphate mines in Florida are so damaging that their ugly scars on the planet can be clearly seen from space. Florida’s public rivers, lakes, streams, and coastal waters pay the price for these corporate strip mines, year after year. Attorney Monica Reimer in Earthjustice’s Florida office has filed an important lawsuit that challenges federal …

August 22, 2008

The Jaw-Dropping Everglades Deal

By David Guest

By this time, most everyone has heard about the historic deal in the Florida Everglades: U.S. Sugar will sell the state of Florida 187,000 acres that sit between giant Lake Okeechobee and Everglades National Park. That’s 187,000 acres that will no longer be drenched with poison pesticides and fertilizers. It is industrial farmland that blocks …

June 19, 2008

Earthjustice Antidote to Seagrass 'Poison Pill'

By David Guest

Earthjustice’s Florida team has saved the state’s seagrasses and fishing grounds from a legislative poison pill. David Guest, managing attorney of the Florida office, tells this tale of midnight chicanery… The bill in the Florida Legislature seemed like a good thing: For the first time, Florida would impose fines on boaters who carelessly trashed seagrass …