Intersection: Pressure Is Put On Florida’s Natural Environment As The Population Continues To Grow

Florida Everglades. Photo: Chauncey Davis on Flickr.


Florida may be a hurricane prone state but that doesn’t stop people moving here. The influx of new residents puts pressure on the sunshine state’s natural environment.
Bob McClure from the James Madison Institute, a free market think-tank, joins Intersection for a conversation about the environment and property rights.
“You have this potential collision course where you have massive growth in the state of Florida running up against this beautiful, very very dynamic and diverse environment here like the springs, and the everglades jewel,” he said.
“I think the discussion of what happens with that kind of pressure is an important one to have.”
McClure said although a 2014 amendment was enacted to help buy new wildlife preserves, he questions whether the state can manage the land it already owns.
“Florida already has 30 percent of the state in government hands, but nobody was managing it,” he said.
“What the legislature chose to do with that amendment was that they took a significant amount of that money and put it into managing that land.”
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