In case I need to say it again, I will. Because of Rick Scott, we now have an oil company that is currently conducting fracking in our Everglades. This, plus the fact that Rick Scott has a large financial stake in the fracking effort, should have ended any hope of re-election he had. But so should have his financial stake in the company that was to drug test every state employee; or his financial stakes with his wacky Medicaid privatization scheme. I've honestly given up waiting for Florida to wake up.
Is it any wonder then that the cronies he picked to run our agencies, such as the now-corrupt Department of Environmental Protection, don't even bother trying to coverup that they think we are all stupid?
Case in point: Collier County is outraged at the DEP, and justifiably so for giving the Everglades oil permits in the first place, for their handling of unauthorized fracking activities, and their attempt to sweep it all under the rug. The County filed a legal challenge to pull the permits. The oil company doing the acid-fracking, Dan A. Hughes Drilling Co., did not even bother to attend the Commission hearing to defend themselves; but incredulously, the DEP apparently sent someone for them.
Because that's how things work now in Rick Scott's Florida.
The DEP essentially asked the County to back off and let the company frack away. They then said that they conducted several water quality tests on the groundwater and, rest assured, issued a clean bill of health to the poor, oppressed oil company.
One problem.
An environmental group hired their own court-certified expert, biochemist Dr. Ron Bishop, who said the chemicals tested for by the DEP were "carefully chosen" to "avoid any which are commonly used by the petroleum industry". The list of chemicals they tested for were for all sorts of organics that wouldn't be used by drilling companies, but no tests were done for common ones that are. The DEP had "arguably intended to obfuscate the purpose of the tests".
You can read the full text here.
There is only way to prevent fracking of the Everglades, and that's to get rid of Scott.
Rick Scott and his people really do think we are idiots. Don't prove him right. Our environment deserves better.
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