Past, passing & to come

Notre Dame Cathedral up in smoke. Unthinkable and irreplaceable. Rebuildable, hopefully. Replaceable, non.

An epic tragedy that turns my mind to the tragedy of destruction being planned for Florida’s remaining wildland cathedrals: vast upstate oak savannahs, first magnitude springs, unique hammock and swamp woodlands ornate with exotic and irreplaceable ecosystems and the creatures they host. Not rebuildable by human hands. Mitigation? Like a zoo compared to the Serengeti .

All these wild & rural places to be bulldozed and bisected for three massive, limited-access tollways stretching across “opportunity zone” development corridors that will enrich corporations, pursue an archaic fossil fuel infrastructure & energy export agenda, fill political coffers and expedite paving over the last remaining strongholds of wild, rural Florida, both Southwest and North Central.

The plan’s championed by Sarasota/ Bradenton lawyer and state senate President Bill Galvano -R , district 21. Sarasota’s a gulf coast city where unregulated sprawl over the last 40 years has created residential neighborhoods requiring 6 and 8 lane access roads to handle local surface traffic alone.

As yet, no one in power has bothered to ask the opinons of people who live in the path of these juggarnauts how they feel about the intrusion. Letters advising property owners of the possibility of eminent domain seizure of their home or land often represent first notice of such projects, as has happened with the ongoing Suncoast Parkway construction currently burrowing across Citrus County, heart of the “Nature Coast”.

This in a state already overflowing with runaway sprawl and poorly planned developments. Plagued by coastal and potable water quality issues. Located at ground zero for climate change impacts.

Wealth besotted politicians. Zero foresight. A 19th Century vision for 21st Century issues because short term profits continue blinding powerbrokers to the long term consequences for Florida’s singular wildlands, rural life ways and ultimate survivability in a warming world. Policies that serve the wealthy few at the expense of the many, both human and wild.

Then there’s the “more hurricane evacuation routes” arguement. Please. Those who’ve participated in past storm evacuations know the ridiculous truth: traveling by car to get away from storms is perilous, expensive and unpredictable. And there’s nowhere to go with capacity to handle the human surge. Even for those who can afford the trip and potentially several days displacement from work, school and home.

Better to focus on local transportation infrastructure to expanded storm shelter facilities and let people remain in proximity to their homes, communities and workplaces. And to cleanup, if necessary.

Solar-powered, local, light rail and high-speed long distance rail provide cleaner, sustainable answers in ways no tollway filled with vehicles gridlocked & going nowhere in the path of a storm ever can. Optimizing existing roadway and interstate highway infrastructure with the additions of rail and of regional park-n-ride or park-n-shelter in place can provide the public services that address transportation & storm shelter needs in an equitable & sustainable model.

The problem is that solar and rail, unlike gas and superhighway toll road development, doesn’t generate jurassic scale profits for corporate developers, fossil fuel vested utilities, real estate profiteers or their cronies embedded in the Florida legislature.

Solar energy in the Sunshine State? Such a concept. Yet regional utilites continue investing in frack sourced, pipeline delivered gas for local use, and potentially for export. Crystal River’s new Duke Energy multimillion dollar gas fired plant sits at a terminus of the multistate, high-capacity Sabal Trail Pipeline.

A burgeoning overseas market for compressed liquified natural gas (LNG) is cited in development plans for the Ports of Jacksonville and Tampa. Would compressed LNG station-to-truck-to-ship container transport be expedited by new high speed, cross-state tollways connecting Tampa and Jacksonville? Connect the dots, see a picture of another unsustainable future.

The images here narrate this continuing story. Who among the sunbaked and waterlogged will take up plowshares and paddles to preserve our state and planet’s most ancient cathedrals? We are all Parisians my friends.

For more info & community:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1133688126642561/

Legislature’s planned road project could benefit Florida’s richest man

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.news4jax.com/news/politics/florida-legislature/senate-taps-brakes-on-plan-for-toll-roads

Update 4/18/19

A 1000 Friends of FL webinar today included a pdf that is a must review for anyone interested in these issues. It also provides additional references pertinent to some of the points I try to make:

#greennewdeal #resistextinction