February 19, 2019
72 Organizations Send Letter to Gov. DeSantis Opposing Oil Drilling in Everglades
Conservation, Civic and Religious Groups Join Broward Leaders in Opposition to Oil Drilling
Tallahassee, FL — Today 72 environmental, civic, religious and local government organizations, from the Panhandle to the Keys, sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis to voice their support for Broward County and its municipalities, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, in the fight to stop the Kanter Real Estate LLC exploratory oil drilling proposal in its tracks; they want the Governor and the Legislature to get involved too.
Many of these same groups, and concerned citizens, will gather today at 11 a.m. in Everglades Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale, next to Water Conservation Area 3 where Kanter wants to drill, for a press conference with local elected officials from Broward and Palm Beach counties and cities in Broward County. They will send a strong message together: Not here, not now, not ever. No oil rigs in the Everglades.
Feb. 19, 2019
The Honorable Ron DeSantis
The Florida Capitol
400 S. Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399
RE: Opposition to Kanter Real Estate exploratory oil drilling in the Everglades Protection Area
Dear Governor DeSantis:
On behalf of the undersigned organizations, businesses and officials, we write to express our fierce opposition to the Kanter Real Estate proposal for exploratory oil drilling in the Everglades Protection Area. We hereby add our voices to those of the Broward Legislative Delegation, the Broward Board of County Commissioners, the Miramar City Commission, the Broward League of Cities and the other numerous elected and community leaders who have already made their opposition public.
We appreciate the denial of the Kanter Real Estate, LLC Oil & Gas (O&G) Permit Application by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) in November 2017 and are deeply concerned by the recent court decision to reverse that denial. We are in full support of FDEP efforts to respond to this threat to Water Conservation Area 3 and all FDEP efforts to resist and deny the expansion of oil and gas exploration within the Greater Everglades Ecosystem.
Opposition to exploratory oil drilling in, adjacent to, and/or under any of the Everglades Water Conservation Areas is longstanding. In 1993 the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board adopted Resolution No. 93-18 (attached), still relevant today, which warned of "potential interruption of sheetflow to the Everglades National Park if contamination occurs" and that such drilling "will be in conflict with the Everglades restoration efforts and the significant public and private investments toward Everglades Restoration."
We are in strong support of the local governments fighting the Kanter Real Estate proposal and we are relying on your administration to offer the same. We appreciate that you have made Everglades restoration, opposition to offshore drilling, and the banning of fracking early priorities of your administration. As such, we believe that you are poised to tackle this alongside the people who are directly threatened by the Kanter proposal.
Further, we request that you work with the FDEP and the state legislature to identify and adopt measures that will prevent further exploration and drilling within the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. South Florida's natural resources, drinking water, surrounding communities and economy must be protected, and we look forward to working with you to do so.
Sincerely,
350 South Florida
Salome Garcia, Executive Committee Chair
1000 Friends of Florida
Paul Owens, President
Alianza for Progress
Marcos Vilar, President & Executive Director
Ancient Islands Group of the Sierra Club
Tom Palmer, Chair
Aquatics for Life
Susan Steinhauser, President
Audubon Everglades
Scott Zucker, Vice President & Conservation Co-Chair
Broward County National Organization for Women
Joanne Sterner, President
Broward Group of the Sierra Club
Stanley Pannaman, Conservation and Programs Chair
Bullsugar Alliance
Alex Gillen, Policy Director
Calusa Group of the Sierra Club
Ruth A. Scott, Chair
Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife
Lori J. Haus-Bulcock, Corresponding Secretary
Center for Biological Diversity
Jaclyn Lopez, Florida Director
Christian Cultural Development Foundation
Robin Haines Merrill, Executive Director
City of Coconut Creek
Mary C. Blasi, City Manager
City of Seminole Community Garden
Mary Ann Kirk, Community Garden Coordinator
Concerned Citizens of Bayshore Community, Inc.
Steve Brodkin, Vice President
Congregation L'Dor Va-Dor
Rabbi Barry Silver
Conradina Chapter, Florida Native Plant Society
Carol Hebert, President
Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida
Adrienne Kaltman, J.D., Broward Chapter Chair and State Executive Committee
"Ding" Darling Wildlife Society
Michael Baldwin, President
Eco-Action
Jef Shelby, Executive Director
Environment Florida
Jennifer Rubiello, State Director
Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida
Becky Ayech, President
Florida Bay Forever
Elizabeth Jolin, Director
Florida Conservation Voters
Aliki Moncrief, Executive Director
Florida Keys Environmental Fund, Inc.
Charles Causey
Florida Water Conservation Trust
Terry Brant, Legislative Chairman
Food & Water Watch
Michelle Allen, Senior Florida Organizer
For Our Future Florida
Blake Williams, Director of Communications
Friends of Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
Elinor Williams, President
Friends of Hollywood Florida
Karen Caputo, President
Friends of St. Sebastian River, Inc.
Tim Glover, President, and Bruce M. Sabol, Board Member
Friends of the Everglades
Alan Farago, Conservation Chair
Friends of Warm Mineral Springs, Inc.
Juliette Jones, Director
Indian Riverkeeper
Marty Baum, Riverkeeper
Interfaith Council of Central Florida
James Coffin, Executive Director
Interfaith Justice League
Rabbi Barry Silver, Founder
International Dark-Sky Association Florida
Diana Umpierre, Chair
Lake Worth Waterkeeper
Reinaldo Diaz, J.D., Waterkeeper, President
League of Women Voters of Florida
Patricia Brigham, President
League of Women Voters of Broward County
Bradette Jepsen, President
Lobby For Animals
Thomas Ponce, President/Founder
Loxahatchee Group of the Sierra Club
Drew Martin, Conservation Chair
Marine Resources Council
Leesa Souto, Ph.D., Executive Director
Martin County Conservation Alliance
Tom Bausch, Board of Directors
Miami Group of the Sierra Club
Stephen Mahoney, Conservation Chair
Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition
Al Sunshine, President
New Florida Majority
Andrea Cristina Mercado, Executive Director
Palm Beach County Chapter of the Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida
Ryan A. Rossi and Sandi Schwartz, Founding Members
Palm Beach County Environmental Alliance
Mark Offerman, Chairman
Pelican Island Audubon Society
Richard H. Baker, Ph.D., President
Pro Choice Coalition of Broward
Rosa Valderrama, Vice Chair
Progress Florida
Mark Ferrulo, Executive Director
Rainbow River Conservation, Inc.
Dr. Burt Eno, President
ReThink Energy Florida
Kim Ross, Executive Director
Rebah Farm
Carol Ahearn, Owner
Save the Manatee Club
Anne Harvey Holbrook, Staff Attorney
Sierra Club Florida
Frank Jackalone, Chapter Director
Silver Springs Alliance, Inc.
Chris Spontak, President
Seminole United Methodist Church Garden
Bob Huttick, SUMC Garden Coordinator
South Florida Audubon Society
Grant Campbell. Director of Wildlife Policy
South Florida Wildlands Association
Matthew Schwartz, Executive Director
Speak Up Wekiva, Inc.
Chuck O'Neal, President
START (Solutions To Avoid Red Tide)
Sandy Gilbert, Chairman/CEO
Stone Crab Alliance
Karen Dwyer, Ph.D., Co-founder
Struggle for Miami's Affordable and Sustainable Housing (SMASH)
Adrian Alberto Madriz, Executive Director
Suncoast Group of the Sierra Club
Timothy Martin, Conservation Committee Chair
Surfrider Foundation
Holly Parker Curry, FL Regional Manager
Suwannee/St. John's Sierra Club Group
Whitey Markle, Chair
The CLEO Institute
Yoca Arditi-Rocha, Executive Director
Urban Paradise Guild
Sam Van Leer, President & Founder
Florida Conservation Coalition
Estus Whitfield, Charter Member
cc: Bill Galvano, Florida Senate President
Jose Oliva, Florida House Speaker
Noah Valenstein, Secretary, Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Mark D, Bogen, Mayor, Broward County
Wayne M. Messam, Mayor, City of Miramar
Ernie Marks, Executive Director, South Florida Water Management District
Terrie Bates, Water Resources, South Florida Water Management District
