|
Newsletter (June 20, 2012)
Having trouble viewing this newsletter in email? View online here. How Eco-Regulators Ruined Florida Farmersby Douglas Gregory
How would you feel if your property were fined right out from under your feet? That’s what happened to Aida, a Florida farmer.
After Hurricane Wilma in 2005, she, like many other farmers near the Everglades, accepted ruined, mulched, otherwise useless crops to help dispose of them.
But then Florida’s Department of Environmental Resource Management decided the crops were toxic and levied fines of $25,000/day if the mulch were not removed. Aida and some other farmers fought. Some lost, some lost their shirts complying, and many abandoned their property.
Environmental regulatory agencies and activist organizations commonly adopt this tactic, reversing our legal principle that one is innocent until proven guilty. Promised federal reimbursement of their legal costs, they file lawsuits against persons or companies even if their case is weak.
Years of lost revenue from unused property, spiraling legal costs, and the fear of years of accumulated $25,000/day fines often cause defendants to simply comply in exhaustion—or bankruptcy. The regulatory agency never needs a judge to rule before it imposes fines, demands compliance, and keeps property from being developed.
Every action south Florida’s fruit farmers took to defend their property cost them huge sums of cash they could never hope to recover. Would they risk more legal fees to sue the regulatory agency? Would you?
Such blatant bullying and swindling violate Americans’ rights. By educating the public and policy makers about Biblical ethics of Earth stewardship and economic development, the Cornwall Alliance can help reduce the incidence of such abuses.
Would you help us by praying for us, telling others about our work, and supporting us financially with your tax-deductible donation?
Douglas Gregory is a microbiology graduate of Pennsylvania State University and Research and Communications Specialist for The Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation.
“What does energy mean to me? Energy is everything.” More here.
We regret that all email servers may not be able to play this Youtube video. Clicking on the title will take you to the link.
Scripture for the Week Exodus 7:14–17; chapters 8, 9, 10, and 12.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water…. And you shall say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood….[and then] frogs….gnats….flies…. a very severe plague upon [the Egyptians] livestock….boils…. hail [,which] struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast….locusts….darkness….the death of the first-born males in Egypt.
Resisting the Green DragonMore and more churches and other groups are using Cornwall Alliance’s groundbreaking 13-part video series around the country. With its printable discussion guide, it provides full curriculum for a Sunday school quarter. The accompanying book helps teachers and others dig deeper.
Join Cornwall Alliance Facebook Group PageTo keep up with relevant developments, join Cornwall Alliance’s Facebook Group page, where we and group members will post and discuss items daily.
Landmark Documents from the Cornwall AllianceE. Calvin Beisner, Ph.D., Founder and National Spokesman
Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation
Information in this newsletter is for scholarly and educational use only and may not be copied or reproduced for any other purposes without prior permission of the copyright holders.
|
