David Guest's Blog

June 20, 2018

Stopping the Big Florida Swindle

The Florida Forever conservation land-buying program was created to set aside funds for conservation to protect coastal areas like this one.

Florida legislators stole funds earmarked for conservation to pay for salaries and agency-operating expenses. On behalf of millions of Floridians, Earthjustice fought back—and we just won.

March 25, 2016

The Massive Fish Kill Florida Could Have Prevented

Dead fish cover the beautiful Indian River Lagoon and the Banana River following a fish kill caused by a brown algae outbreak that was sparked by fertilizer, sewage and manure pollution.

March 7, 2016

Fighting for Solar Power in ‘the Sunshine State’

Earthjustice is fighting Florida’s anti-solar ballot initiative in the state Supreme Court.

March 2, 2016

South Florida’s Tourist Season From Hell

Polluted wastewater from Big Sugar and other South Florida agricultural operations is being pumped onto Florida's coast, killing marine life and tourism business.

December 22, 2015

Water Policy Bill Could Be Big Victory–For Polluters

Florida's major rewrite of hundreds of clean water regulations is putting the state's water supply in danger.

December 4, 2015

Sugar Cane Burning Not So Sweet for Florida’s Residents

"Money-Burn" Gavin Fordham Flickr https://flic.kr/p/a2iJqq

Each year, Florida’s sugar-growing corporations emit thousands of tons of hazardous air pollutants by burning sugar cane leaves, a dirty practice that Earthjustice is working to stop.

November 2, 2015

Florida Power and Light Wants Expensive Boondoggle

Florida Power and Light is trying to get its customers to foot the bill for an expensive and unnecessary power plant near Lake Okeechobee.

July 1, 2015

Protecting Florida’s Apalachicola River from Coal Ash Pollution

Sunset on the Apalachicola River in Florida

Piles of coal ash in unlined pits threaten one of the south’s premier rivers. Under our legal settlement, Gulf Power Corp. pledges to take steps to protect the Apalachicola River from coal ash pollution.

May 11, 2015

Proposed Bills Entrust Water Protection to Worst Offenders

Lake Okeechobee, pictured, is facing another green slime outbreak threatening pelicans, dolphins, fish, manatees and Florida's coasts.

The toxic green slime that killed pelicans, dolphins, fish and manatees in South Florida two summers ago is back, threatening Florida's coasts.

April 7, 2015

Caught in the Act: Anti-Conservation Forces Hire Actors for Fake Everglades Protest

Florida is trying to buy Everglades conservation land from Big Sugar, but conservative opposition groups are hiring fake protesters to complicate the deal.

March 13, 2015

Florida's State Workers Silenced on Climate Change

Beach chairs floating away in high Florida tide

Gov. Rick Scott’s administration has banned state workers from using the words “climate change” in their reports and presentations, even as sea level rise slowly swallows the Sunshine State’s picturesque coastlines.

March 4, 2015

Big Ag Looking For Free Pass in Florida

Florida’s Big Ag lobbyists are pushing to make water quality enforcement a voluntary endeavor.

January 14, 2015

Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory

Floridians overwhelmingly approved the Land Acquisition Amendment to the state's Constitution in 2014, but citizens need to remain vigilant to ensure the funding is used for land conservation.

December 15, 2014

Coal Plant Exploits Private Information Ruling to Hide Toxic Ash

A coal plant is exploiting a court ruling concerning private information in order to hide its toxic ash from the public eye.

November 11, 2014

Shining a Light on Florida's Outdated Energy Strategy

America lags behind other countries—and Florida lags behind other states, in getting real about energy efficiency programs.

November 10, 2014

Floridians Overwhelmingly Vote for Clean Air and Water

Last week, the people of Florida overwhelmingly voted for cleaner air and water in their state.

August 27, 2014

Disney Building Fake Florida Spring - Really

Now here’s a crazy story that we absolutely are not making up. Disney is building a fake Florida spring for the world to see in its Orlando amusement park.

August 6, 2014

In Florida, Toxic Algae is a Year-Round Fight

A fluorescent green toxic algae outbreak on St. Johns River on November 12, 2013.

For those of us living here in sunny Florida, noxious green slime outbreaks like the one that shut Toledo, Ohio's, water system, are now a year-round occurrence.

May 16, 2014

Pollution Is Ruining Florida's Springs

Florida's 900+ freshwater springs are filling with algae because of poor stewardship by the state.

April 9, 2014

Polluting of Lake Okeechobee Must End, Court Rules

Backpumping by industrial agricultural operations is allowing pollutant-laden waters into drinking water sources.

February 11, 2014

Florida Governor Embraces Polluters in Chesapeake

Just helping another state's waterways get as polluted as his.

November 13, 2013

Pollution Killing Manatees at Record Pace

Yet, industry group seeks to removed endangered species status.

September 17, 2013

Choking On Algae and Anger, Floridians Rise Up

Toxic algae, caused by runoff, spreads widely into communities.

August 8, 2013

As Wildlife Dies, Outrage Mounts Over Florida Slime

Right now, in the prime-time of summer fishing, surfing, and swimming season, health officials in one of the prettiest places in southeast Florida are warning people not to touch the water because it poses a dangerous health risk.

A massive toxic algae outbreak along the Atlantic coast, north of Palm Beach, is turning the Indian River Lagoon and the St. Lucie Rivers sci-fi green. This is one of the most biologically productive parts of South Florida, and one of the most popular for water sports.

July 18, 2013

Judge: Fisheating Creek Should Flow With Water, Not Sand

I’m happy to announce that we won the latest legal skirmish in our 23-year quest to keep one of South Florida’s wildest waterways open to the public.

April 12, 2013

Manatees Dying in Florida's Algae-Choked Waterways

Florida tourism promoters are always looking to get stories in the newspaper to lure northern tourists—and their vacation cash—down here. But a recent story in the New York Times wasn’t what they had in mind.

“Florida Algae Bloom Leads to Record Manatee Deaths,” read the national headline on April 6, in the middle of prime winter tourist season.

February 14, 2013

Anti-Slime Brigade Packs Florida EPA Meeting

In a fantastic show of grassroots support for clean water, Floridians packed a Environmental Protection Agency meeting in Tampa on Jan. 16, saying they are fed up with repeated slimy algae outbreaks on the state’s beaches, rivers, spring and streams

More than 150 protested, and they wore fluorescent green T-shirts saying, “Ask me about slime.” They asked the EPA to stay strong and enforce pollution limits for sewage, manure and fertilizer—three culprits which are fueling algae outbreaks all over the state.

December 14, 2012

Big News In Fight Against Florida Slime

On November 30, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed to set numeric pollution limits for some 100,000 miles of Florida waterways and 4,000 square miles of estuaries.

October 18, 2012

Time To Slay Another Dragon At Fisheating Creek

As everyone involved in the environmental movement knows, we’ve got to stay vigilant with each passing year to make sure that that our victories don’t get undone.

September 14, 2012

Sugar Industry Seeks To Use Everglades As Toilet

For decades, U.S. sugar barons have been dumping their polluted runoff into the Florida Everglades. Day after day, these politically powerful corporations send chemical fertilizers and pesticides into the great marsh—wrecking America’s only subtropical wilderness in the process.

It’s clearly wrong for sugar plantations to use our public natural resources as their private dumping grounds, and we here at the Florida office of Earthjustice fight many legal battles to stop it.

April 13, 2012

In Florida, Green Is Toxic

As I write this, a new toxic algae bloom has broken out on southwest Florida’s Caloosahatchee River, filling the air with a sickening stench.

We are so infuriated at seeing this heartbreaking pollution disaster wreck our beautiful Florida so early in the toxic algae season. As you’ve read in this blog before, these outbreaks of toxic green slime are triggered by the excess phosphorus and nitrogen from sewage, manure and fertilizer.

February 15, 2012

Thousands Join Florida Anti-Slime Brigade

A big thank you to the more than 17,000 people who have sent letters to the White House so far in support of strong U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limits for sewage, manure and fertilizer in Florida waters. We so appreciate you all having our backs on our quest to clean up Florida’s number-one pollution problem.

September 21, 2011

Florida: The Polluters' Paradise State

<Editor's Note: this op-ed by David Guest, managing attorney of Earthjustice in Florida, recently appeared in newspapers throughout Florida. Also, view multimedia interview with David Guest.>

June 24, 2011

Unwanted Green Tourism Slimes Florida

As I write this, half of the 75-mile long Caloosahatchee River in southwest Florida is covered by nauseating green slime. It’s a heartbreaking sight – dead fish wash up along the banks, and waterfront homes have a pricey view of a stinking mess.

One dismayed homeowner told me he plans to petition local government to lower his property valuation because his waterfront lifestyle is now so gross that no one would ever want to live there.

April 20, 2011

Gulf Oil Spill Sticking Around A Year Later

A year after BP’s oil spill devastated the Gulf of Mexico, we are analyzing the cleanup efforts and, sadly, find them both paltry and embarrassing.

February 16, 2011

What!? Florida Congressman Acts In Support of Toxic Slime

As you’ve read in this space before, the EPA’s new water pollution limits are designed to control the public health threat posed by the green slime that continually breaks out on Florida waterways.

December 14, 2010

It Takes Heart To Keep Florida's Waterways Clean

Industry-fed politicians fight court order to cleanse the waters

November 16, 2010

EPA Blesses Florida With Nation's First Run-off Rules

Rules aimed at fertilizer and waste flows ruining state waterways

October 18, 2010

Florida's Former Environment "Protectors" Are Pals of Polluters

They ask EPA to delay cleaning Florida waterways

October 11, 2010

Decision Will Help Cleanse Florida's Everglades

Earthjustice convinces court to let state abandon reservoir project

August 18, 2010

Dead Fish and Sick People Don't Stop Florida's Water Polluters

They ask Congress to keep the toxic good times flowing

July 22, 2010

Florida's Fingers Crossed Over Gulf Oil Spill

Nightmare is easing, but the toll and cleanup are at hand

June 16, 2010

Suing To Stop Industry's 'Fairy Tale' Oil Spill Plans

Government let BP, other oil companies get away with fiction

May 10, 2010

Watching Oil Spill Undo Years of Conservation Work in Florida

"It is heartbreaking and we are angry..."

April 19, 2010

The Risky Business of Restoring Florida's Everglades

Judge's order creates twists, turns - and opportunities

February 17, 2010

Hand-In-Hand To Stop Oil Drilling Off Florida

"Hands Across the Sand" protests legislative effort by oil industry

January 19, 2010

EPA Moves Against Florida's Green Slime

Limits on nutrient pollution will quell waterways scourge

November 18, 2009

Historic Decision To Limit Poisoning of Waterways

EPA agreement on nutrient runoff has national impacts

October 14, 2009

Algae Isn't The Only Slime in Florida Water War

Polluters join ag commissioner in fighting against clean water

October 2, 2009

Florida Ag Commissioner Refuses To Fight Algae Polluters

Uses tax dollars in resisting efforts to clean up waterways

September 15, 2009

Oil Drilling Axis Targets Florida's Offshore

Oil's money men lubricate efforts to open up state's waters to drilling

June 17, 2009

Court Legalizes Pollution of America Water Supplies

A disappointing decision by the federal appeals court in Atlanta will legalize pollution in many American drinking water supplies, and we have the former Bush administration to thank for it.

May 21, 2009

Florida Bill Greens Lawns Not The Environment

One of the most difficult things we face every legislative season is a bill that looks good on the surface but turns out to be rotten at the core.

We are urging Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to veto just such a bill, deceptively titled, "Protection of Urban and Residential Environments and Water Act," right now. This bill – Florida Senate Bill 494 - appears to do something to help the environment, when in fact, it makes things worse.

April 29, 2009

Is Florida Drill Bill Dead, Baby, Dead?

We’re breathing a cautious sigh of relief here in Florida on the issue of offshore drilling. A dangerous bill that would have lifted the state’s offshore drilling ban appears to be dead. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

Our state Senate President told reporters today that the Legislature has run out of time to hear the offshore oil issue. The bill passed the Florida House of Representatives 70-43 on Monday. If it isn’t heard in the Senate, the bill will die.

April 22, 2009

Nation's First Solar City in Florida

Talk about a great Earth Day present! Florida Power and Light and Kitson & Partners made a stunning announcement April 9, saying they plan to build the nation's first solar-powered city—a cluster of homes, offices and factories less than 20 miles from Fort Myers on Florida's Gulf Coast.

March 18, 2009

What's Green and Chokes Lake Okeechobee?

Apparently, the sight of toxic algae blooms spreading across South Florida's public waterways last year wasn't enough to convince the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to do the right thing and toughen standards for nutrient pollution.

So on March 9, we filed suit in U.S. District Court to compel the EPA to set more protective pollution limits for Lake Okeechobee and its tributaries. Lake Okeechobee is the second-largest freshwater lake wholly within the continental United States, second only to Lake Michigan.

March 6, 2009

Of Florida Bully-boys and Lawsuits

Down here in Florida, we are continuing our fight against the giant, destructive phosphate strip mines that trash our landscapes and pollute our water.

Our latest legal battle aims at some incredible strong-arm corporate tactics that Mosaic Phosphate is using to shut out local citizens and get its local land-use approvals to mine in the watersheds of the gorgeous Peace River in Southwest Florida. Read the full story.

February 17, 2009

EPA Reversal May Cleanse Florida Coal Plant

One of the last dirty coal power plants on tap in the Sunshine State could get cleaner, thanks to new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Lisa Jackson and her wise decision to take another look at regulating carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act.

January 22, 2009

Florida's Sweet Energy Mandate

Jan. 8 was a sweet day in Florida, and I’m not talking about the weather.

On that day, the state's Public Service Commission voted for a new energy mandate: the state will get 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources—wind, solar, hydropower, or biomass—by 2020.

"We want to be a leader in this country in solar and wind," Public Service Commission Chairman Matthew Carter said. "We want to establish a dynamic and vibrant marketplace."

December 16, 2008

Florida Tackles Global Warming

With a single vote on Dec. 2, Florida took real leadership in the fight against global warming.

After years of head-in-the-sand policy making, this is a welcome change. We have Gov. Charlie Crist to thank: he proposed that Florida adopt clean car standards patterned after those in California.

November 17, 2008

Ending A Flood of Waste in Florida

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, a taxpayer-funded water authority. We sued the water management district two years ago. On October 30, a Florida Appeals Court finally ruled in our favor.

October 22, 2008

Florida Takes On Global Warming

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, electricity demand you name it.

The result is an ambitious set of reforms which we believe would cut Florida's greenhouse gasses 34 percent by 2025.

October 13, 2008

Corps Suspends Phosphate Mine Permit

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 the permit didn't comply with the law and should never have been granted.

In its letter, the Corps said: "The Corps has determined that it is in the public interest to revisit the analysis in support of the permit decision."

September 29, 2008

Battle Over Peace River Phosphate

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 approval for one of these mines near the beautiful Peace River outside Bradenton.

August 22, 2008

The Jaw-Dropping Everglades Deal

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 the Everglades' natural water flow—now it can hold and filter water as it moves south toward Florida Bay.

To say we're ecstatic down here is a massive understatement. This is the largest conservation deal in Florida history.

June 19, 2008

Earthjustice Antidote to Seagrass 'Poison Pill'

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 beds in the state's protected aquatic preserves. The underwater marine nursery grounds can get chewed up by boat propellers, and the damage can last for decades.

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