Coastal experts warn of cost of environmental neglect

For the first time this year, environmentalists in Canada were happy to see a federal election fought over environmental issues, particularly a carbon tax to combat global warming. But then the financial crisis hit. And this week, the Liberal party and its environmental program were defeated. Eric Higgs, a Canadian scientist, told hundreds of fellow scientists and coastal professionals in Providence, R.I. this week that once again the economy has failed to understand the value of social and ecological capital, and that could lead to even more economic losses in the future. Similar climate-change legislation has been introduced in Congress, but some fear the U.S. banking crisis will cause political leaders to back off on the environmental bill. Higgs, director of the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria, and Michael Grunwald, author of the award-winning book, "The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida and the Politics of Paradise," gave closing presentations to a national coastal and estuary restoration conference that attracted more than 900 people to Providence during the last five days. Both presenters struggled to be upbeat. But they also raised many gloomy points. Higgs, for instance, said the global economy is losing more money through the disappearance of forests than through the banking crisis. Grunwald said some $30 billion has been spent already on efforts to restore the Everglades, but it is difficult to see much improvement. The conference attracted coastal experts from all over the country. Grunwald said President Clinton signed an $8-billion bill to restore the Everglades on Dec. 11, 2000, the same day the Supreme Court was hearing arguments in Bush vs. Gore. It was an historic day, he said. But the Everglades has been badly damaged by the Army Corps of Engineers and one of the "most spectacular development booms in history," Grunwald said. Consider that in the 1880 U.S. Census, only 257 people were identified as living in south Florida. Now, there are 7 million residents and 60 million visitors each year. "It's the ultimate test of sustainable development, of man's abuse of nature," Grunwald said. "It's a great story. A frontier story, a story of hubris and unintended consequences." Grunwald said the Corps of Engineers -- "the shock troops in America's war against nature" built 2,000 miles of levees and canals to drain the Everglades. That work paved the way for 450,000 acres of sugar fields, thousands of houses and a national park. Today, half of the Everglades is gone, and Grunwald said what remains is "an ecological mess." He said the marsh is polluted by suburbs and sugar fields, a critical dike is leaking and 69 endangered species struggle to survive there. Now, following the environmental awakening in the 1960s, the Corps is trying to fix its mistakes and leave the Everglades water where it belongs, Grunwald said. But he said scientists are questioning the benefits of the current restoration plan. There are no provisions for smart growth or water conservation and no thought has been given to the consequences of climate change. The Everglades restoration has been sold as a model, Grunwald said. Some 3 million acres are in the public domain. About 60 inches of rain fall there each year. Lots of money has been provided. But just about nothing has happened in the last eight years. The good news is the state has a new plan to buy out U.S. Sugar, Grunwald said. That would provide lots of land for the marsh. "The Everglades is a moral test of our willingness to restrain ourselves and figure out how to live in harmony with nature," Grunwald said. "If we pass this test, maybe there is some hope for the rest of the planet." E-mail Peter B. Lord at plord(at)projo.com(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)