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Restoration Announcement Draws Cheers, Jeers For Crist
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Published: June 25, 2008
TALLAHASSEE - The massive Everglades purchase that Gov. Charlie Crist announced Tuesday drew cheers from Florida's environmental community, which has skewered him over the past week for reversing his position on offshore oil drilling.
The study in contrasts was irresistible for the state's Democratic Party, which accused Crist of timing his Everglades announcement to distract from his decision to support Sen. John McCain's call to lift the federal ban on offshore drilling.
Environmentalists, however, said they prefer to remain optimistic about Crist, whom they call Florida's greenest governor in recent memory.
"People will look back generations from now and say, 'This was when Everglades restoration really started," said David Guest, managing attorney of Earth Justice in Florida, who has battled the state's big sugar companies in court for years.
Ten minutes after Crist's scheduled appearance in Loxahatchee on Tuesday morning, the state Democratic Party released a searing news release about Crist, in which they questioned the "curiously" timed announcement "just days after he got panned for offering up our shores to McCain-Bush's big oil buddies."
In an interview, party spokesman Mark Bubriski questioned why the governor would announce the deal now, when the details - including the final price - have yet to be negotiated.
"Before last week, the people of Florida trusted Charlie Crist on issues like this, relating to the environment," he said. "But his flip-flop last week calls everything into question."
Guest rejected the Democrats' implication, saying the announcement was initially planned for May 15, and then for the start of June before being delayed until June 24, a day more or less decided upon weeks ago.
"The logistics were set up well before the oil and gas drilling news," said Guest of Tallahassee, who traveled to hear Crist's announcement in South Florida on Tuesday.
Outgoing Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller said "it's very clear" that Crist altered his position on offshore drilling to support Sen. John McCain's call to lift the federal moratorium "because he's on McCain's short list" for vice president. "My 11-year-old could have figured that out."
Although it's plausible that Crist changed the date of his Everglades announcement slightly to offset the political fallout over drilling, Geller said the deal with U.S. Sugar was obviously in the works for months - seven, according to Crist's office - and that he didn't view the announcement as a serious ploy.
"I think most of the environmental community is ... so thrilled to have Charlie there, that they're willing to overlook one clear flip-flop on one position, because everyone knows why he did it," Geller said.
Crist denied last week that his decision on oil drilling had anything to do with the presidential election, attributing it instead to high gas prices. He also said he did not support oil drilling in the Everglades.
Asked Tuesday about the timing of the Everglades announcement, Crist spokeswoman Erin Isaac said that if anything, it coordinated with the start of the global climate change summit in Miami today.
If a success, the Everglades deal would shut down U.S. Sugar, one of the environmental community's biggest foes in Florida.
The agricultural giant made more than $3.7 million in various campaign contributions during the state's 2006 election cycle, mostly to political parties and committees. Although contributing to both sides of the aisle, the company has primarily supported conservative policies and politicians. At the state capital, the company has generally stood firm with the state's other agricultural interests, helping to frustrate even those working on environmental issues beyond the Everglades.
Lance deHaven-Smith, political scientist at Florida State University, said U.S. Sugar's potential departure will empower environmentalists across the state.
DeHaven-Smith said he's not sure that the Everglades deal "makes up for" the offshore drilling issue. "But Crist is going to get a lot of credit from the environmental community in Florida. This is a huge development."
Reporter Nicola White contributed to this report. Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382 or cdolinski@tampatrib.com.
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