16x20 oil painting on stretched canvas, Framed
Artist: Painter Lyn
This painting was inspired by the colors in the sunset in The Florida Everglades. The Sugar Can farmers burn off their Fields preparing for the next crop. When the conditions are right, the sky reflects the color of fire.
Information on The Sugar IndustryThere are many variables surrounding the arguments for and against the sugar industry. While the industry has vital economic impacts, it also has destructive environmental effects. Economically the sugar cane industry plays an important role in our society. The impacts especially affect those who live in Florida. Sugar cane is one of Florida’s most important agricultural products, producing a gross sale of more than $2 billion in the state. It averaged over $800 million per year in the end of the ‘90s and first season of 2000. While it is obvious that income to the state of that magnitude would have huge economic significance for the state, the industry also provides numerous jobs for its citizens. The sugar cane industry boasts 17,000 jobs, having a significant impact for those who live around the plantations.
Even though many may believe the environmental effects from the sugar cane industry on the Everglades are minimal or insignificant, there is a large amount of evidence stating otherwise. The sugar industry has polluted the water in streams and rivers by runoff from their facilities. Phosphorus runoff produced by the industry is the primary cause of degradation of the Everglades. Water that runs off from the sugar cane agricultural areas carries with it so much phosphorus, usually around 10 parts per billion, allowing cattails to thrive off the nutrient usually growing uncontrollably. This uncontrollable growth chocks the natural vegetation leading the ecosystem into crisis. Plants that used to thrive in those areas have died and been swept down stream turning the once pristine waters of Florida Bay into bodies of dark and cloudy waters. This runoff of Phosphorus travels down from the Everglades to the Atlantic Ocean, which is ruining the reefs that exist there.
In addition to polluting the water supply and altering the environment over the past 200 years, 9.3 million acres of wetlands, most of it Everglades, have been lost. Losing wetlands means losing both a natural water purifier, which has huge environmental effects, and abundant wildlife. Animals such as the American Crocodile and Florida Panther, along with 54 additional endangered species, call the Florida wetlands their home.
Although there are huge environmental effects from the sugar industry on the Everglades, and the quality of the water, the industry has recently started to step up and take into consideration the environment. Because of the concerns for the environment, the sugar farmers have become active in the litigation over the restoration of the Florida Everglades. Sugar farmers, such as U.S. Sugar and others, have agreed to pay more than $300 million over the next 20 years to pay for the cost of cleaning the water, to its entirety, leaving their farms. The farmers utilize strict water quality control programs on their facilities to ensure the health of Florida’s ecosystem.
Not only are they practicing environmentally safer techniques on their farms, they also support such legislation from the U.S. Congress to re-pump the water flow and delivery system in South Florida, known as the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Act. While the damage has been done to the Everglades, and water quality in South Florida by the sugar cane industry, they are now taking measures to reduce further damage, and to try to protect the Everglades while they can.
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