‘Tax’ on Sugar Pushed for Cleanup of Florida Everglades
Environmental groups urged Florida voters Friday to adopt a state constitutional amendment to finance the cleanup of the Everglades by collecting a penny for each pound of sugar processed adjacent to the area.
Much of the state’s sugar industry, which is accused of polluting the ecologically sensitive wetlands, has balked at previous federal and state proposals to clean up the Everglades.
If voters approve the measure later this year, the constitutional amendment would cost sugar growers an estimated $35 million.
Some conservationists estimate the cost of fully restoring the Everglades and cleansing its polluted waters could top $2.5 billion.
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