2011 Hands Across the Sand_Sponsor

Building on the success of last year, I would like to invite your organization to be

a sponsor of Hands Across the Sand in 2011 so that we may broaden the reach

and impact of the event.

I believe the collective efforts of clean energy and environmental organizations

have immense power of combined membership and expertise to create real

change in our national and world energy policy.

Please review the information below and contact Dede Shelton at

dedeshelton@gmail.com

to join hands through your sponsorship.Sponsoring Hands Across the Sand will require a minimum of effort for each

organization to have a powerful outcome. Please join hands with us on June 25,

2011!

Very best,

Dave Rauschkolb, Founder, Hands Across The Sand

850-865-1061

http://www.handsacrossthesand.org

http://www.facebook.com/HandsAcrossTheSand?ref=ts

46,700 members currently

Flikr photo slide show – June 26, 2010 event

http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/show/?q=handsacrossthesand&m=pool&w=

1467020%40N23

May 3, 2011

Dear Friends of Mangroves:

Mangrove Action Project is asking for your help with our latest campaign against shrimp farm certification. We are preparing a compiled statement of protest from the conservation world against World Wildlife Foundation’s proposed Shrimp Aquaculture Dialogue, with its intended Aquaculture Stewardship Council.  This well intentioned effort is seriously flawed due to standards that will never insure the health of mangroves from such farming activities.  Please sign on to show your support for healthy mangroves!
Please sign onto this letter on your behalf in addition to as many of your affiliated organizations as possible. We need lots of signatures to show we have wide support for this critical initiative to insure the health of mangroves and related ecosystems from the damaging effects of shrimp farming. 

Please also distribute this to any lists available to you and to any others you know who care about marine biodiversity. We plan to send out our initial letter with sign-ons very soon, so the more signatures we have the better!  Although we would like to hear from you immediately, in the event you need more time to obtain additional sign-ons, please do forward them to us also when you obtain them, as we will be gathering additional signatures over the next few months.

Yours for the mangroves,

Alfredo Quarto

Executive Director
Mangrove Action Project

<mangroveap@olympus.net>

Here’s the letter: 

WWF Press Release Draft3 AQ 5-3-11-1

Special thanks to Alfredo Quarto

Passionate about the marine environment?  www.bluefront.org

BVS3FLYER-fullpage041511 1

A four-day gathering of 500 leaders from the marine community including Dr. Jane
Lubchenco, Sylvia Earle, Carl Safina, Admiral Thad Allen (USCG -Ret.), Ralph Nader, Barton Seaver, Wyland, Jim Toomey, Louie Psihoyos, Celine Cousteau and many others!
May 20-23, 2011 * Washington, D.C.
This year’s major themes include Restoring the Gulf of Mexico and other endangered waters and seeing the President’s new Ocean Policy enacted in areas where people are already working for change and making the links between a healthy ocean and healthy economy.
This an action-oriented summit is aimed at further building the ocean community, influencing policy makers and developing a common plan of action for healthy seas. It will include Capitol Hill Ocean Day on Monday with visits to members of Congress.

Summit sponsors include: Blue Frontier Campaign, The Curtis & Edith Munson
Foundation, KBS Living Oceans Foundation, Ocean Champions, Center for Ocean
Solutions, NRDC, One World One Ocean Foundation, Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation,
Wendy Benchley, National Geographic Society, Code Blue, Herbert W. Hoover
Foundation, Blue On Tour, Ocean Conservancy, Henry Foundation, PEW Environment
Group, American Littoral Society, Oceana, Clean Ocean Action, EDF, Barefoot Wine,
Wyland Foundation, The Ocean Foundation, Ocean Inspiration, Digital Ocean, Boulder
Community Foundation, Surfrider – DC Chapter, Care2, IFAW, Shark Research Institute, Danielle Meitiv’s Brave Blue Words and Whale Tail Chips, Legal Sea Foods, Whole Foods.
For moreinformation and registration, visit www.bluefront.org

This is so foolish, since the injected wastewater will not only foul drinking water supplies, but it will also deliver nitrogen-loaded wastewater to offshore coral reefs via upwelling. This bill overrides earlier important legislation that established a standard of advanced wastewater and reuse to replace ocean outfalls in South Florida.   And it is a joke to define injection as a method of reuse.  DV

Surfrider Foundation Action Alert:  OUTFALL BILL -SB796/HB 61

The proposal, House Bill 613 by Rep. Carlos Trujillo (R-Miami) and Senate Bill 796 by Senator Miguel Diaz de la Portilla (R-Miami) and Senator Sobel (D-Broward) , allows for less wastewater treatment, an increase in the amount ofsecondarily treated sewage being discharged directly into South Florida coastal marine waters and the injection of sewage into the Biscayne and Upper Floridian Aquifers  shallow drinking water supplies for South Florida and the Keys. Thisbill is trying to undo the efforts we took 2 years ago in passing this bill and delays the requirement for compliance with a state mandate to eliminate ocean outfall, improve wastewater treatment and beneficially reuse a portion of thatwastewater by five years.

Florida’s tremendous growth over the past decade has raised critical concern in the Legislature over how we manage our water, not only for drinking but also for waste disposal.  Communities throughout Florida have seen the benefits ofembracing readily available and proven technology for advanced wastewater treatment and re-use, with some communities reaching upwards of 80 percent efficiency. Unfortunately, this legislation would reverse these trends and detrimentallyimpact the treatment and reuse of water of the largest municipalities in our state, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.

These Bills allow wastewater disposal to be accomplished by:
1. Treating Less (to a lower standard) -If a facility reuses 100% of its wastewater it is exempt from the AWT treatment standard. (HB-­‐613/ 73-­‐79 + page 2 of staff analysis.)

2. Injecting More ( Redefining Reuse) -The bills provide a means to achieve 100% reuse by redefining reuse as Recharge into the Biscayne and Upper Floridan Aquifers ( HB-­‐613/ lines 6,7-­‐ 91,92 )

3. Injecting into Shallow Drinking Water Aquifers- More troubling, these bills redefine “reuse” to allow for injection into the Biscayne and Upper Floridan Aquifers. (HB-­‐613
/Lines 6,7 – 91,92.) These are shallow drinking water aquifers. This means, under this legislation reused water will be injected into the drinking water resources for a significant portion of South Florida. While they say it is to”drinking water standards” that doesnt take into consideration that the nitrogen level is far too high for our reef which will be effective by offshore upwellings.

BOTTOM LINE!: This legislation significantly lowers the water quality standards and treatment requirements in the state allowing water treatment facilities to treat less, inject more, and inject into shallow drinking water aquifers.

Questions to have Senators Ask One-Pager

Our Senators are in recess. PLEASE CALL THEM while they are back in your home districts. While the bill has passed in the House, our goal is to see to it that the Senator Budget Committee and other Senators to ask the hard questions beforeletting this bill move to the Senate Floor for voting. The following key members are on the committee:

Chair:
Senator JD Alexander (R)
Vice Chair:
Senator Joe Negron (R)

* Senator Thad Altman (R)
* Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto (R)
* Senator Ellyn Setnor Bogdanoff (R)
* Senator Mike Fasano (R)
* Senator Anitere Flores (R)
* Senator Don Gaetz (R)
* Senator Alan Hays (R)
* Senator Arthenia L. Joyner (D)
* Senator Evelyn J. Lynn (R)
* Senator Gwen Margolis (D)
* Senator Bill Montford (D)
* Senator Nan H. Rich (D)
* Senator Garrett Richter (R)
* Senator David Simmons (R)
* Senator Gary Siplin (D)
* Senator Eleanor Sobel (D)
* Senator John Thrasher (R)
* Senator Stephen R. Wise (R)

Please contact your Senators and Representatives, ESPECIALLY if they are on this Budget Committee. Simply Log on to myfloridahouse.gov or myfloridasenate.gov and find your elected official or Call Toll free 1 (800) 342-2172begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1 (800) 342-2172      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1 (800) 342-2172      end_of_the_skype_highlightingbegin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1 (800) 342-2172      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting       1 (800) 342-2172     end_of_the_skype_highlighting and have your Zip Code ready to be directedto your Representative or Senator.

Other relevant websites:

http://www.watereuse.org/files/s/docs/Layla_Llewelyn__Compatibility_Mode_.pdf
http://static-lobbytools.s3.amazonaws.com/pres /20110207_outfall_fact_sheet_2011updated.pdf
https://www.reefrelieffounders.com/news/2011/03/01/reef-rescue-florida-invites-northerns-to-come-and-swim-in-our-sewage/
http://www.freedivingspearfishing.com/forum/florida/3146-florida-legislature-is-moving-to-derail-the-ocean-outfall-legislation.html
http://www.miamidade.gov/greenprint/planning/library/milestone_one/water.pdf
http://blueoceaninitiative.com/2011/03/03/florida-invites-northerners-to-come-and-swim-in-sewage/

Special thanks to Surfrider and the Florida Coastal & Ocean Coalition

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/11/2162515/bill-eases-sewage-restrictions.html#ixzz1JQ97p0uD

Posted on Monday, 04.11.11
 
POLITICAL CURRENTS | THE LEGISLATURE
 
A measure advancing in the Legislature would give three South Florida counties and one city more time and leeway in phasing out how much sewage they flush into the Atlantic Ocean.
 

A diver writes down observations of marine species in the Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida.
 AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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By Patricia Mazzei
 
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
 

TALLAHASSEE — Three years ago, state lawmakers set a timeline for South Florida to stop pumping 300 million of gallons of sewage a day into the ocean — and to treat most of the region’s wastewater to reuse for irrigation, industry and other purposes.
 
But that was before population growth stalled, reducing the need for more water, and before local governments felt the full impact of the economy’s dive, leading to fresh sticker shock for the pricey water-treatment projects.
 
Now two Miami Republicans are pushing to loosen the sewage restrictions and extend the deadlines for six plants in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties to comply with the rules.

The measure put forth by Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla and Rep. Carlos Trujillo would give the plants five more years – from 2018 to 2023 – to upgrade from minimal to advanced treatments for wastewater reuse.
 
The sewage discharged into the Atlantic Ocean is screened of its worst components but still rich in nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus dangerous for, say, watering lawns.
 
Environmentalists, divers and some scientists say the wastewater has damaged beaches, marine life and coral reefs. And more of the treated sewage, they say, could be recycled for other uses, including recharging the underground aquifers that supply fresh water.
 
Under the bill, as the ocean-dumping practice is phased out, the plants would be given more leeway on what and how much sewage would have to be treated — a move that could result in more wastewater being spewed into the ocean than originally stipulated in state law.
 
The entire practice is still scheduled to shut down, with provisions for limited backup use, by 2025.
 
An original draft of this year’s proposal would have pushed back that date by five years. But the diving industry fought back and now favors the amended version.
 
“We just want the outfall pipes closed,” said Bob Harris, a lobbyist for the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association. “It has been for a long time an embarrassment, and our divers see the impact on the reefs.”
 
The measure also has the backing of Florida’s cities and counties associations. Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and the city of Hollywood, which operates one of the plants in question, would save hundreds of millions of dollars with the changes — including $867 million in capital outlay costs for infrastructure in Miami-Dade alone.
 
Savings to operating costs, Diaz de la Portilla said, would amount to $4 billion to $5 billion over two decades.
 
At the bill’s second Senate committee stop Monday, Diaz de la Portilla characterized the bill as one that would keep consumers from seeing rate hikes on their water bills.
 
“Folks need some relief,” he said.
 
The bill, which has advanced to the House floor, faced no opposition at the Senate community affairs committee. But a couple of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have voted against the proposal in other panels.

The rest of the state recycles more water than Southeast Florida, home to the last remaining pipes dumping sewage one to three miles out into the Atlantic.
 
One of them, Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, said he feared South Florida officials would lobby for another extension down the line.
 
“Sometimes,” he said at a committee last month, “you’ve just got to bite the bullet to clean this thing up.”
 
Patricia Mazzei can be reached at pmazzei@miamiherald.com.