Gay Key West men sue for right to marry in Florida

A gay couple in Key West sued Monroe County Clerk Amy Heavilin on Tuesday after her office refused to issue the men a marriage license. “We want the right,” said Aaron Huntsman, bartender at 801 Bourbon Bar on Duval Street who has been partnered for more than a decade
with William Lee Jones......more>

Poisoned Gulf Killing Our Whales

Authorities said eight pilot whales have died in shallow waters off Florida's southwest coast. Six others remain unaccounted for. In December, more than 50 pilot whales stranded in Everglades National Park. Several died.......more
Update: 25 Dead Whales Found Near Kice Island, Florida...more>

Pilot whales live in deep water and swim inland if they suffer from toxicity or disease.

Gay Rights in Florida: Progress Is Here

Three Florida legislators --

Democratic Sen. Joseph Abruzzo of West Palm Beach,  
Rep. Joe Saunders of Orlando and

 

Republican Rep. Holly Raschein of Key Largo

have filed antidiscrimination bills for the upcoming session........more

Whales Stranded In Florida Waters

Rescuers worked feverishly Friday to save some of the pilot whales who stranded themselves in shallow waters near the Florida Keys. At least 21 pilot whales were found in an area about 20 miles north of Key West, 13 whales are dead and the count might climb.......more>

The Keys Are Safe, For Now

Great news, an exploratory oil well off the northern coast of Cuba has proved a failure and will be capped and abandoned, Spanish company Repsol said Friday......more

Conchs Hunting Mosquitoes With Drones

Florida Fights Rising Sea Level

In Florida, sea level could rise 60 centimeters by 2060. The Florida Keys, especially vunerable because of their low altitude, are protecting themselves.

Good News For The Keys

Zarubezhneft abandons offshore drilling in Cuba, for now
More than one month after the owner of a drilling platform said it would pull its rig from Cuba, state oil company Unión CubaPetróleo (Cupet) announced in a terse official note that Russian state company OAO Zarubezhneft postponed further offshore exploration. The pullout effectively ends all offshore exploratory drilling in Cuba, for now.
here
We must do all we can to discourage Cuba from drilling off it's coast. Venezuela has all the oil they need.
 If they want to resurrect the cash-starved Cuban economy they should find another way.

Cubans, Spaniards and the Chinese

Are preparing to put a very controversial hole deep in the Gulf of Mexico.
Deeper than the blown-out well that spewed 5 million barrels of crude into the Gulf last summer.
It will puncture the sea floor in Cuban-controlled waters just
60 miles off the Florida Keys,
a protected coastline where offshore drilling is banned under U.S. law.
here

John Pennekamp State Park
Fidel and Raul you guys own a tropical island, Go Green!

Where Are We Heading?

Here in Florida,

in the past few months alone, the Department of Community Affairs was eliminated; the Florida Forever land acquisition program was unfunded; all the appointments to the Environmental Regulation Commission and to the Florida Energy and Climate Commission had been withdrawn; the state's planned cap-and-trade program was scrapped, and the regulations protecting the Everglades, a body of laws that had been decades in the making, were rolled back. Seed money from Washington for high speed rail was rejected by the Florida governor—as if the Florida construction industry were not in need of jobs. Meanwhile the ocean around the Keys heated up to an astounding 30 C (90 F); the water is teeming with jellyfish, and the reefs look blotched and blighted. How can we possibly afford this—even from a business standpoint? Is the Florida tourism industry not in need of tourists?

Martin Schönfeld teaches Philosophy at the University of South Florida