Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station in South Miami-Dade has leaked saltwater into the Biscayne Aquifer, South Florida’s main source of drinking water. But the Florida Supreme Court said yesterday in a unanimous ruling that FPL is allowed to make Florida residents pay to clean up the mess its equipment created.
Last week, the Bal Harbour village council voted unanimously to ban the use and distribution of most single-use plastics, including straws, utensils, and shopping bags. The ordinance prohibits the use or distribution of single-use plastics in commercial establishments.
The National Weather Service is forecasting a “strong cold front” in South Florida starting Friday. The weather pattern will bring rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds to the Miami area, along with slightly cooler temperatures.
This weekend, Ultra will bring around 125,000 EDM fans to its new home on Virginia Key, a wildlife sanctuary that’s normally home only to manatees, birds, crocodiles and other protected wildlife. Despite a long list of concerns raised by local nonprofit Miami Waterkeeper and other environmentalists, the festival’s organizers insist no harm will be done to the island’s wild inhabitants.
Ever since Miami city commissioners approved Ultra Music Festival’s move from downtown to Virginia Key, environmentalists have worried about the impact on the island’s federally protected wildlife. Festival organizers conducted wildlife surveys and put together an environmental plan — but now one leading environmental nonprofit is blasting those efforts as…
Last month, Key West became the second locale in the country to ban sunscreens containing chemicals believed to harm coral reefs. Now, officials in Miami Beach and Surfside are considering passing bans of their own. During their meeting today, Beach commissioners will consider prohibiting the sale of sunscreens…
Glyphosate is a popular ingredient in weed-killing herbicides because it’s extremely effective. It’s also a well-known pollutant — researchers have found the chemical in samples of the air we breathe, the food we eat, and even the beer and wine we buy from the liquor store.
When Miami city officials decided to tear out grass along Brickell Avenue and replace it with artificial turf last fall, residents were not pleased. A days-long protest ensued, complete with “Save me! I will die soon” signs on trees the protesters said would be smothered by the fake sod. Now,…
In theory, Florida’s Constitutional Revision Commission is a useful body: The group convenes every 20 years and considers amendments to the state constitution. But in practice, the CRC lately has been gamed by lawmakers. It’s bundled disparate concepts to produce absolutely weird results: an amendment put up for public vote…
In late November, a woman showed up at the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station with a bizarre find: Two freshwater turtles that had been chained together. Attached to the chain was a bag packed with a cinnamon stick, two red voodoo dolls, and two photos of a couple.
The Florida Everglades sure seem like a place where oil rigs don’t belong. The unique habitat contains tons of endangered species — and humans have demonstrably corrupted it enough already. But today, Florida’s First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee ruled that an investment company in Broward County…
On a cloudy Tuesday morning in South Beach, a man stands on a seawall at the edge of Biscayne Bay. Wind whips through the air, causing the water to ripple. A manatee nuzzles its face against a stormwater outfall pipe, and a plume of black, dirty water washes over it.
You might as well go ahead and buy one of those fancy stainless-steel straws. Over the past year or so, cities across the nation have taken steps to limit plastic straws and stirrers out of concern for the environment. Now Fort Lauderdale and Coral Gables are joining them.
Barbara DeLiberali and her family, thrilled to be trading the cold weather in Pennsylvania for a few days in the Bahamas, boarded the Norwegian Breakaway December 31, 2017. She and her husband, along with her daughter and son-in-law, had booked the cruise as a Christmas present and a surprise for her three young grandchildren.
In a few short weeks, passersby will be able to hold their phones up and and see a video.
Florida’s 800-plus miles of beaches are by far the state’s top tourist attraction. They draw more visitors than all U.S. theme parks and national parks combined. More than 40 percent of tourists head to Florida for its beaches, and beach tourism brings in more than $55 billion in sales annually. So…
In most states, it’s legal for property owners to sell home-generated solar power to other people or to tenants living in their homes. This is usually called a “power-purchase agreement” — your landlord, for example, might put some solar panels on top of your apartment building and charge…
Two years ago, when Miami Beach commissioners wanted to reduce smoking on city beaches, they had only one option: asking nicely. Florida is one of a few states where municipalities cannot regulate tobacco use, so the commission created voluntary smoke-free areas at Fifth Street and 86th Street, where pastel-colored…
Almost two years later, PortMimai dredging records have not been publicly released.
For a brief, weird moment in 2017, the notorious Miami shark hunter Mark “the Shark” Quartiano and conservationists were on the same side. After a couple of local fisher-bros filmed themselves dragging a shark behind a boat until the poor fish was in tatters and then proudly sent the video to Quartiano, the infamous fisherman…
Lizards have even adapted to breathing underwater.
They shouldn’t be deregulated.
