The excerpt in the colloquium reader by Michael Grunwald entitled, "Endgame", depicts the rigorous and controversial process it took to approve this effort. Many factors came into play to approve this, including the support of Governor Bush, Vice President Al Gore and the involvement of Florida senators, local Native American Tribes, and the conservationists of the Sierra Club.
Plans to install an airport in Homestead hindered the plans and created controversy over whether or not the plumbing supply would taint the fabric of the Everglades ecosystem.
Al Gore was the sole target in this battle, who had the power to approve or disapprove the construction, but he refused to take a side before the upcoming presidential election. "He wasn't convinced that the airport was central to the plumbing problems that were destroying the Everglades."
In order for the Everglades project to be greenlighted, non environmental issues needed to be analyzed and that CERP would not favor nature over the well being of Floridians. Senator Voinovich believed that, "... if the Everglades was really 'America's Everglades,' as the Florida Senators kept calling it, then a threat to the Everglades was America's business." Bush also wasn't completely convinced with the environmental issues alone and sided with the economic interests. If Florida's legislatures were agreeing to pay half of CERP's cost, then Bush was determined to make sure equal money meant equal power.
I for one am glad this effort was put into effect. The everglades are a crucial ecosystem. We brought this upon ourselves when we attempted to drain all of south Florida to accomodate population growth. CERP is our wayof asking for forgiveness from the American treasure known as the Everglades.
