Floridians have no right to bodies of water ‘free of pollution,’ appeals court rules

Floridians have no right to bodies of water ‘free of pollution,’ appeals court rules



by DoremusJessup

5 comments

  2. This is America and Americans don’t make the rules here. Americans seem to forget whose home this is.

  4. > “Although it is an admirable goal, we know of no provision that is authorized in either general law or specifically granted in the State Constitution, nor has one been provided by Speak Up, which specifically provides a citizen the right to have a body of water that ‘flows, exists in its natural form, is free of pollution, and which maintains a healthy ecosystem,’” the judges wrote.

    > “We recognize the overwhelming support of this charter amendment by the residents of the City of Titusville and the admirable policies of the amendment,” the judges wrote. “However, the Legislature in drafting section 403.412(9)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act has not authorized the types of rights provided for in the charter amendment. As such, an appellate court has no power to change or alter what the Legislature mandated.”

  5. People in the US talk about freedom but many seem oblivious as to what that is, or what it looks like, and in fact actively work against it – something very clear when a mere 22% of the US population is able to elect an overtly corrupt authoritarian.

    Every time an American says “freedom” I wonder why the US is ranked 17th on the Human Freedom Index, 19th on the Prosperity Index, 20th on the Human Development Index, 21st on the Rule of Law Index, 30th on the Democracy Index, 27th on the Global Social Mobility index, 42nd on the Freedom of the Press index, 55th in life expectancy, and scoring 83/100 on the Freedom in the World index.

    People tell me they need guns to protect these freedoms but America doesn’t even rank in the top 10 anywhere it matters. There are daily mass shootings and kids killed while learning all to defend what is nothing better than sliding mediocrity.

    People in Vietnamese made stars and stripes onesies crying freedom as they gleefully usher in the end of American democracy because they operate on fear and hate and cannot separate fact from fiction.

    The rot set in a long time ago and sadly has spread elsewhere. Far from the unifying pro-democracy force of post WW2, as the US becomes ever more corrupt and authoritarian it is that influence permeating through other nations. Global freedom has now declined for a 17 consecutive years and we see a the rise of fascism directly correlated to that in the US.

    I know all this feels a bit much for a post about local water issues but even complex global problems start somewhere. Sometimes that’s in your back yard when Republicans make it legal for corporations to poison you and take away your ability to fight back.

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