Dear Friend,, Blue-green algae. It’s a danger to human health. It smells horrendous. It’s bad for business, for real estate values and for essential tourism dollars that drive the state of Florida’s clean-water economy. So what are we doing about it? More importantly, are we doing enough? In 2019, Gov. Ron DeSantis created a Blue-Green Algae Task Force to address this threat. He appointed some of the best-qualified scientists in the state to serve on it. Yet, three years later, many of the task force’s sound recommendations have been ignored by Florida’s elected leaders. No, we’re not doing nearly enough. Join Friends of the Everglades on July 27 as we talk with environmental policy experts about the lack of follow-through, and the work that remains to protect Florida from toxic blue-green algae. In a virtual Clean Water Conversation, Matanzas Riverkeeper Jen Lomberk and 1000 Friends of Florida’s Outreach Director Haley Busch will join Friends of the Everglades’ Policy Director Gil Smart and Executive Director Eve Samples to discuss the headway that’s been made — and lack thereof — in the last several years. Today, satellite imagery confirms a growing mass of blue-green algae on Lake Okeechobee. One storm could raise the lake and send those blooms to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries and the Lake Worth Lagoon. Hope can’t be our only course of action. At Friends of the Everglades, we intend to keep pushing for the implementation of policies that keep communities safe, holds polluters accountable and prevents further degradation of our waters.
This conversation will be streamed directly to our Facebook page and our YouTube channel from 12-1 p.m. on Wednesday, July 27. Register now to join us. — Your friends at Friends of the Everglades | 
