What would Teddy Roosevelt do?
Paul Reinhardt
Candidate Florida State House of Representatives District 34, Republican
What would Teddy Roosevelt do?
I was happy today to read that some county commissioners and Randy Oliver (with the clear majority of Citrus County Residents) backed my position of not budging on toxic sludge being brought here from Ft. Myers.
We also should enforce regulations controlling discharges from old vehicle batteries, old antifreeze, and other contaminants. We should ban fracking(hydraulic fracturing) and extensive mining in our fragile limestone. Pesticide use and over fertilizing have caused a Lyngba problem trying to be handled by great volunteers here in Citrus County. I use low maintenance grasses like Pensacola and Argentine Bahia. I let nature be my pesticide.
One of my favorite Presidents was Teddy Roosevelt, a real Conservationist and our nation's first Environmentalist.
When it was unpopular with his own party he established our national park service and set aside pristine landscapes for future Americans to enjoy. What would he say today? I support the full 33 percent of land being dedicated to the Land Acquisition Trust Fund. We cannot keep cheating our environmental preservation efforts. In 1997, the federal and state governments purchased 52,000 acres of land in the Everglades Agricultural Area, known as the Talisman Tract, to build a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to cut coastal discharges. Instead this land is now being primarily used to treat runoff from sugar fields. Additionally the State of Florida continues to rent approximately 18,000 acres of public land to sugar companies in long-term, non-competitive leases. I believe that taxpayer-owned land must be used for the public interest. I have signed on to bullsugar.org and refuse donations from Florida's Big Sugar Industry.
Just ask ourselves in times of environmental threat, What would Teddy Roosevelt do?
I pledge to protect Florida's waters from environmental degradation so that generations to come can enjoy our rivers, lands, lakes, springs, bays, and beaches. I am endorsed by the Florida Democratic Environmental Caucus for my stands to preserve our environment.
Paul John Reinhardt M.D., Democratic Candidate for District 34 Florida House of Representatives