 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
McBride lays out environmental agenda
By WES ALLISON, Times Staff Writer PALMETTO -- Under a canopy of oaks, at an ancient Indian settlement on the Manatee River, Democratic candidate Bill McBride decried rampant growth and chastised the governor for a new law that makes it harder to challenge new development. McBride, who has based most of his campaign for governor on promises to improve education, last week won the endorsement of leading environmental groups, including the Sierra Club. He had been criticized, often by Republicans, for failing to articulate a plan for protecting the environment. On Saturday, he pledged to require more regulations for managing water, to push redevelopment and in-filling over sprawl, and to work to overturn a new law that limits the right to challenge new development to people who live nearby. The law, called the Citizen Participation Act, makes it harder for environmental groups to challenge new permits for development, activists say. "The governor should have tried to defeat that. I will work to reverse it," said McBride, whose former law firm, Holland & Knight, helped write the law and lobbied for it. "Each of us has a stake in the environment. No could suggest (the right to challenge) was being abused." Many Democrats, including his running mate, state Sen. Tom Rossin, voted for the bill because it was tacked onto the Everglades restoration bill. McBride said Republican Gov. Jeb Bush should have forced the Republican-led Legislature to separate the two, requiring a "stand-up vote" on each. The Bush campaign said the effect of the law was overblown, and it cited Bush's leadership in passing the Everglades restoration act, which will cost the state $7.8-billion. The campaign also cited Bush's leadership in creating a $3-billion fund to buy sensitive lands, called the Florida Forever program. The governor refused to allow the Legislature to raid that fund this year. McBride claims that under Bush, the state permitting process is designed to aid growth, almost regardless of consequences. He called for "smart growth development," a catch phrase among land use planners that refers to encouraging redevelopment over sprawl and requiring that schools and roads are in place to handle new subdivisions. "It is time to start again," McBride said. "We can try to reverse bad decisions over the past four years, but we can't afford the bad decisions to continue." Bush, a former Miami real estate developer, tried but failed to get the Legislature to pass a law requiring that new growth be tied to space in schools, although Democrats contend he could have tried harder. Instead, the Legislature approved a weaker version that encourages school boards and county commissions to work together when approving new subdivisions. Alluding to the water restrictions in force in much of the state, McBride called for accelerating the setting of minimum water flows in rivers and the minimum water levels in aquifers. He also called for requiring localities to budget their water supplies. Todd Harris, the governor's spokesman, said McBride's plan is not specific enough and does not address cost. McBride said that new residential development requires much more public money to service than agricultural or undeveloped land. "McBride's lack of specific plans on the environment, health care and public safety is pathetic," Harris said. "We are 24 days from the election and he continues to insult Floridians by not honestly answering the questions they want answers to: What are your plans and how would you pay for them?"
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times state desk
From the state wire
|
