Teddy Roosevelt's Party

27 June 2008



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Florida to Buy Out US Sugar

US Sugar Corporation is going out of business in six years. At least, it will, providing the details of a deal offered by Florida’s Republican governor Charlie Crist to the shareholders get hammered out. In exchange for $1.7 billion, US Sugar will quietly shut down and the State of Florida will begin to restore part of the Everglades to its original condition. If ever one wanted proof that the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt still makes up part of the Republican Party, this is it.

Reuters explains, “The Everglades wetlands is a shallow, slow-moving river as little as 6 inches deep and a vast sawgrass prairie with marshes, pine forests and mangrove islands. It is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, and is home to rare and endangered species like the American crocodile and the Florida panther. More than 35 percent of the original wetlands have been taken over by development or agriculture and the remainder has been starved of water because of the irrigation needs of sugar plantations, vegetable farms and citrus fields. Runoff from farms has also severely polluted the wetlands.”

This all started more than fifty years ago when engineers began draining part of the Everglades wetlands. A special farming area followed along the southern edge of Lake Okeechobee, and US Sugar and others have operated there ever since. Since then, the nation has learned that wetlands help protect against floods and violent storms by soaking up excess water like a sponge. Florida has hurricane trouble, and draining the Everglades was a bad idea in this respect.

Governor Crist said, “It is as monumental as the creation of our nation’s first national park, Yellowstone. This represents, if we’re successful and I believe we will be, the largest conservation purchase in the history of the state of Florida.” It will also come at the price of 1,700 jobs, and $350 a share to the owners of privately held US Sugar. Given six more years to plan a future, those sacrificing their jobs for the benefit of the wetlands shouldn’t be unduly inconvenienced.

Robert E. Coker, US Sugar’s senior vice president, told the St. Petersburg Times, “For us, it was not all about the money. It’s about what’s going to happen to that land. Our company can go down in history as the missing link in Everglades restoration. It provides sustainability for everybody who stays and recognizes the value of our assets for our shareholders. It’s something we can be proud of.” Sometimes, it’s good business to take the money and run.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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