Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter dropped all charges against Ken Ward and Jay O’Hara for blocking a coal shipment for nearly a day to the Brayton Point power plant in Somerset, MA. Holding high Bill McKibben’s Rolling Stone article, A Call to Arms, the D.A. said “I do believe they’re right, that we’re at…
The Volusia County Council has adopted a countywide fertilizer ordinance to protect water quality in the county’s springs, lakes and rivers, including the Indian River Lagoon – the full watershed. Volusia County followed Brevard County (2014), followed St. Lucie County (2014), followed Indian River (2013) and Martin County (2011). All counties of Indian River Lagoon…
Something is rotten with H.R. 4742, the bill drafted by Representative Hastings, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This legislation, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world. The Hastings bill would…
Late Tuesday evening (6/17/14), the U.S. Congress passed the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control bill! The bill has gone to President Obama to be signed into final law – the first free-standing oceans bill to be passed by this Congress. This legislation is a significant step forward in recognizing and addressing the…
Nitrogen is the worst pollutant of our oceans. In Florida’s Indian River Lagoon, it is making dolphins sick by turning the water into a toxic soup every summer. A population of bottle-nosed dolphins swims their entire lives in Indian River Lagoon. The dolphin population outside the Lagoon shows less signs of stress with significantly less…
