Thread by @AliAdair22

🌎After years of deleterious moves to outright harm the environment, why did Rick Scott take action and on July 9th and declare a STATE OF EMERGENCY because of blue-green algae blooms? 3 Reasons. Money, politics & urgency/necessity.

tampabay.com/news/business/…

👉These 7 counties were affected by the blue-green algae blooms: Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Glades, Hendry, Lee and Okeechobee.

⁉️And then on August 13, 2018, why did Rick Scott declare a STATE OF EMERGENCY because of “red tide” in the following counties: Charlotte, Collier, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota? (Lucky Lee County! Red + Green = Grey—Brown)

usatoday.com/story/news/nat…

#1 Reason. Graham Brink of the @TB_Times sums it up best: it's "bad for business." The toxic blue-green algae blooms are highly toxic, killing marine life, it stinks. looks bad & it’s killing tourism.

The green ooze is flowing out of Lake Okeechobee, into nearby rivers, streams, canals, estuaries,
#2 Reason, Scott is challenging Senator Bill Nelson for his seat. Nelson—who is strong on the environment—is embarrassing him on this subject & more. His solution? Throw money at it

🚫But this is not the solution: the solution is to fix the problem where it starts. But since #RedTideRick is now running for the Senate, he's concerned all of a sudden, declaring 2 states of emergencies: 1 in July for toxic blue-green algae and another in August for red tide.

#3 Reason. The problem is practically impossible to ignore—and travelling to places where the elite live. It has to be addressed. Rick Scott had no other choice but to face the problems created by nearly a decade of withdrawing almost all support for environmental agencies.

⁉️So who’s to blame? @TB_Times’ Brink: “Blame is abundant: over development, poor planning, bad design, intractable politics, the governor, the Legislature, Big Sugar, leaky septic tanks, runoff from ranches, storm water from cities.”

🌎Big sugar plants are back-pumping water from sugar cane farms to the south, which has a lot of phosphorous in it & iron & phosphorous can cultivate algae.

🐳Lake Okeechobee is gigantic: it is 730 square miles. HUGE!

sun-sentinel.com/sfl-lake-okeec…

💦🌪️Increased iron has happened because a large amount of debris from Hurricane Irma is in the lakes, rivers & estuaries causing the oxygen levels in the freshwater to drop. This causes iron to rise. Diagram from Sun Sentinel:

#ClimateChangeIsReal

👉Just in case you’re thinking: “I see that green stuff all the time, it’s not really toxic,” please let John Casanni, Director of Calusa Waterkeeper enlighten you.

#ClimateChangeIsReal
#WaveCast
#WaveCastFL

⁉️Besides being extremely toxic, what are blue-green algae blooms? What is red tide? And what is the difference? Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, affects fresh water (lakes, rivers, etc.) and is truly blue-green in color.

🔴Red tide, formally known as Karenia brevis, mainly affects the Gulf of Mexico—but can spread to canals and estuaries—and is not always red, it can be brown, green or even purple. It starts 10-40 miles offshore. Some say it occurs "naturally," others say more study is needed.

🐬🐠🐟🦈Florida authorities shut down shellfish harvesting during red tides. Then humans come along & eat shellfish, and they get very sick," said Larry Brand, professor of marine biology and ecology at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

🤮This can lead to symptoms such as numbness, tingling, loss of coordination, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the CDC. Symptoms typically disappear within a few days, but they can last much longer.

cnn.com/2018/08/16/hea…

😭"It's like being hit with a tear gas," Brand said.
From CNN: Using hospital records, researchers have found that respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses increase during red tides. In one study, hospital admissions for respiratory diagnoses jumped 54% for coastal residents.

✅🔴As I said earlier, many sources say that red tide occurs “naturally” however, once red tide reaches the beaches it can propagate by contact with nutrient pollution. That's why some of the worst images (above short clip) are from Lee County—which got hit with both green & red.

👨‍🔬Vince Lovko, a phytoplankton ecologist at Mote Marine Lab explains that a federal study going back more than a decade concluded that man-made pollution worsens red tide. A coincidence that the red tide immediately followed the blue-green algae crisis?
miamiherald.com/news/local/env…

Blue-green algae if ingested can cause vomiting, stomach pain, headaches, rashes & even kidney and liver damage.. The blue-green algae blooms can block sunshine to plant life below the surface, reducing oxygen for fish and other marine life.

⚰️🐟🐠🐬🦈Red tide attacks the central nervous system of aquatic life—and kills. Waves break open the cells of red tide, which can cause respiratory problems in humans. The toxins concentrate in oysters and clams—which can poison people. Photo via @WFLA

🏊‍♀️🏊‍♂️Swimming when a red tide occurs is typically safe unless you have respiratory problems.

⚰️🐟🐠🐬🦈But you have to avoid all the dead marine life.

📜You know what could have helped solved at least the blue-green algae problem? Buying land to preserve it from development. But it seems that the #Florida legislature & #RedTideRick wouldn’t do this, despite being mandated by the #Florida constitution.

https://twitter.com/AliAdair22/status/1034590418439004160

💥The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has publicly endorsed Senator Bill Nelson and denounced Rick Scott.

nrdcactionfund.org/news/rick-scot…

🌎Kevin Curtis, Executive Director of the National Resources Defense Council on why his environmental organization denounces Rick Scott and endorses Bill Nelson.

🗳️🌊Please vote for Bill Nelson @NelsonForSenate!

#WaveCast
#WaveCastFL

🌎Here are some of the many reasons. As mentioned above, Scott & the GOP Legislature ignored a FL Constitutional Amendment that 75% of voters approved. Conversely, Scott gradually defunded Florida Forever, the organization that purchases land & puts it in a trust to conserve it.

💸Before he was governor, Florida Forever’s annual budget was $300 million. By 2016, it was completely defunded.

🌎Blue-green algae & red tide: didn't do anything about it until he was running for the Senate. Then just threw money at it.

👉🦆🐬There was a devastating bloom in 2011 that blanketed the Indian River Lagoon, killing 73 square miles of seagrass beds and coinciding with the death of more than 500 manatees, dolphins and pelicans.

🚫No action from Governor Scott.

ccaflorida.org/Water-Quality-…

🌎HB 7207—Changes to the Growth Management Act—Scott pushed through a big rollback of state growth management laws, regulations that had helped control development and its impacts, such as fertilizer runoff and human waste that leaks from septic systems.
flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2…

🌎Scott also slashed funding for the state’s water management districts, which play a big role in protecting waterways, and appointed board members that critics called too deferential to polluters.

This clip shows the enormity of Lake Okeechobee & the numerous fresh waterways.

🌎Rick Scott signed legislation in 2012 that repealed a state law mandating that septic tanks receive regular inspections to ensure they’re not allowing untreated waste to seep into water systems.

#ClimateChangeIsReal
#Florida

🔥🔥PANTS ON FIRE LIE, according to Politifact ▶️Rick Scott claim: "If you care about the environment, we've got record funding."

#LieGate

▶️The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP—responsible for protecting the land, water & air in FL) had the most funding in history under Jeb Bush in 2006-07 w/ $2.9 billion. Under Rick Scott, DEP’s budget peaked at $1.8 billion in 2011-12.

politifact.com/florida/statem…

🌎Rick Scott gutted the Department of Community Affairs, which was responsible for reviewing development plans in cities and counties and regulating growth in #Florida.

#WaveCastFL

news.wfsu.org/post/legislatu…

🌎Scott & his GOP legislature forced state water management districts (responsible for planning for water resources and wetlands protection & other environmental issues) to slash property tax collections—which funded their department.

fl.audubon.org/news/st-pete-t…

🌎Environmental fines in #Florida under Governor Rick Scott dropped from $9.3 million in 2011 to $1.4 million in 2013.

thebradentontimes.com/theres-no-gree…

🌎OIL DRILLING: Rick Scott paired with Trump Administration Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to hold a press conference to announce that #Florida would be exempt from the coastal offshore oil drilling which the Trump administration has expanded.
politico.com/states/florida…

🤥But emails later revealed that this was a LIE. The press conference was a planned event—because of Scott’s affinity for Trump—and suspect since Scott always supported offshore drilling. There is no exemption for #Florida it turns out. NRDC: 👇

🌎In short, Governor Scott has RUINED #Florida's environment. Want to #TurnTheGreenOozeToBlue? #VoteBlueNoMatterWho

🐬#FlipTheFloridaSenate
🐬#FlipTheFloridaHouse

🐬#FlipTheHouse
🐬#FlipTheSenate

🗳️Vote for @AndrewGillum
🗳️Vote for @BillNelson

🖼️Diagram showing both blue-green algae counties and red tide counties that had State of Emergencies declared in July and August 2018. Lee County had both red and green...which makes a grey-brown.

🌎Caption: the eyes of a manatee are visible as he swims through the toxic blue-green algae on the St. Lucie Canal near Port Mayaca. The Army Corps of Engineers released water from Lake Okeechobee into the canal. From the canal to the ocean...
Photo: Adam Palas, still from video.

🌎Diagram showing how the water flows from Lake Okeechobee, through canals, into the ocean.

🌎Diagrams from Sun Sentinel, link above. These diagrams show where the "back pumping" of water—which is rife with fertilizers, pesticides & other pollutants is done on Lake Okeechobee, #Florida.

🌎This water needs to be treated so that the pollutants are removed before releasing it into the lake.

🧠It's only common sense.

#ClimateChangeIsReal
#Florida may be affected by it the most of any state in the United States.
GOP Trifectas since 1999 (with one small exception). The Republicans caused these environmental disasters.
#TurnTheGreenOozeToBlue
#VoteBlueNoMatterWho

🌎This is SCANDAL #10, the FINAL SCANDAL.

⚡️Adding it to the Moment with the other 9 SCANDALS right now.

twitter.com/i/moments/1002…

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