November 5, 2018
Gillum/King = Bold Leadership on 'Black Snow'
Residents living within and around the Everglades Agricultural Area have their health, property, and quality of life threatened by the toxic smoke and ash fall, or "black snow," produced by the yearly, 6-8 month long, pre-harvest sugarcane field burning season.
The environmental injustice and suffering caused by pre-harvest sugar burning has largely been ignored by politicians in the past. Finally, this year's election has produced gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, and his Lieutenant Governor Chris King, who have displayed bold leadership:
- Gillum/King have condemned the current discriminatory burn permit regulations that prohibit burning when the wind blows toward residents on the east side of Palm Beach County but encourage burning when the wind blows toward Pahokee, Belle Glade, and South Bay.
- Gillum/King advocate for the alternative to burning called "green harvesting." Green harvesting is being practiced by other sugarcane growing nations around the world as the healthy, sustainable, and economically viable alternative to sugarcane burning.
Andrew Gillum's opponent, Ron DeSantis, has a well-known polluter-friendly, EPA-gutting voting record in Congress.
The contrast creates a clear choice for:
(1) voters in Palm Beach, Hendry, Glades, Highland, and Martin counties who suffer the sugarcane field burning smoke and ash fall; and
(2) those of us who are spared the black snow but know that an injury to one is an injury to all.
Paid political advertisement paid for by Sierra Club Florida PAC, 1990 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33712 independently of any candidate. No candidate has approved this advertisement.