University Colloquium: Florida and the Everglades politics

I think Florida has changed a lot over the years and it is definitely not the Florida that it used to be. I am originally from up north and I remember everyone talked about Florida as this beautiful paradise and it was without a doubt the vacation spot to go to. However, as time passed and now that I am actually living in the “sunshine state” I can see Florida’s true colors. I believe that the changing of Florida and the population growth is directly related to the construction and expansion of roads. I-10, I-95, I-4 and I-75 and the turnpike are all newly constructed highways and there are still more in the process of becoming built. Prior to these roads, Florida was a different place. If you wanted to get anywhere, you had to use U.S. highways 1, 17-92, 27, 301, 19, and 41; and that, in turn, discouraged a lot of people from moving here.

Don’t get me wrong the continuous growth of Florida from new houses being put up to entire towns coming about is bringing in a lot of travelers, tourists and seasonal residents which may be considered a good factor, yet I feel the consequences of structuring are being overlooked. I’ve seen every road, every shopping district, and even every community imaginable expanded or in the process of being expanded. While this is taking place, more trees are being torn down and old authentic houses as well; causing the "old Florida" everyone talks of, no longer existent. All the more so Grunwald explains the severity of constant constructing “tree islands were vanishing, muck soils were shrinking, estuaries were collapsing, and development was blocking the recharge of the region’s groundwater” (Grunwald).

What I make of most politics in general, whether that be regarding the Everglades or not, is that they see the environment as merely a product and solely utilizing it for food, fuel and as a cash flow. The Everglades is a 1.5 million acre wetland preserve and considered to be the unique treasure of Southern Florida. In spite of this, the Everglades was being threatened by the manufacturing of the Homestead airport which would not only put the Everglades in danger but also put risk an entire ecosystem in a generation. Activists sought out to see a solution by passing a bill called the CERP that would be a start to solve south Florida’s natural water needs as well as problems and hopefully bringing the serious issue to the people’s attention. Let me just say it definitely grasped my attention real quick, if the place where I live in, the place I call home is having water difficulties this will affect everyone’s drinking water including my own. And I will not allow the water that I drink, the liquid that sustains my life to be contaminated, jeopardized much less eradicated. As Douglas reminds us that “water is timeless, forever new and eternal” and it made me reflect on how sometimes we forget just how important the basic necessities like water are to us (Douglas).

References

Douglas, Marjory Stoneman., and Robert Fink. "The Nature of the Everglades." The Everglades: River of Grass. New York: Rinehart, 1947. 104-49. Print.

Grunwald, Michael. "Endgame." The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. 78-103. Print.