Drumbeat from Martin County: Buy the Land!
Clean water activists spelled out "BUY THE LAND" on a beach and a flotilla gathered near a golf course where President Obama was playing last weekend in Martin County.
On Saturday, an estimated 300 ralliers organized by Citizens for Clean Water whooped and waved signs calling on our elected representatives to exercise the US Sugar land purchase option before it expires in October.
Beachgoers spreading out to spell "Buy the Land Now." Photo by Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch.
Photo by Cyndi Lenz.
Said Indian Riverkeeper Marty Baum, "You're standing in the letters that spell out "Buy the Land." That message has to go all the way to our governor, legislature, and White House!
Later that day, Congressman Patrick Murphy met Air Force 1 as President Barack Obama arrived for a brief visit to the Treasure Coast. The congressman gave the president a bottle of polluted St. Lucie River water, saying, "I just want to show you what we're fighting for in the Everglades and this area and I want to thank you for the funding you put in the budget."
On Sunday, the Indian River Warriors organized a flotilla offshore of the Floridian National Golf Course, where President Obama was enjoying a round of golf.
Flotilla near Martin County golf course where President Obama was playing. Photo by Darrell Brand.
Thanks to everyone for keeping the pressure on despite the fact that Tallahassee appropriators continue their willful indifference to the 75% of Florida voters who supported Amendment 1, and the emergence of a new Tea Party-backed initiative characterizing the US Sugar land purchase as a "land grab."
—Julia Hathaway, Sierra Club Organizing Representative, West Palm Beach