Although there were lots of events on Saturday commemorating the 43rd anniversary of the original Earth Day (including over at USF), today is actually the day set aside to embrace all things about the environment.
But apparently some of our legislators in Tallahassee haven't received the memo. As detailed in an essay posted last week by former GOP state Senator Paula Dockery, this year there is a "plethora of potentially damaging bills" that have been introduced in the Legislature, including the seventh attempt to preempt local bans on fertilizing laws during rainy seasons, something that has been passed in most local jurisdictions in the Tampa Bay area. The ban is intended to protect waterways from pollution.
How many of these laws will be passed? There's just two weeks to go in the current session, so we'll all know what happens pretty quickly.
Yesterday was not a pleasant day to wake up to the news that Steve Burton, the chairman of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, had passed away, due to complications with a heart transplant. He was only 52.
Speaking as we were earlier about the environment, this weekend marked the third anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and Senator Bill Nelson and Congresswoman Kathy Castor marked the occasion last Friday.
