Press Clips
4/2/24 Good Beer Hunting: Thinkin’ It Can’t Happen to You, and Then It Do — How Water Became a Casualty of the Everglades’ Seductive Urbanization
4/30/24 NBC 6 South Florida: ‘We deserve better’: Florida sugar fires lead to complaints, research and calls for change
2/1/24 WJCT News: The hazards of sugar cane burning
2/29/24 Palm Beach Post: Cutting sugar cane stalks, not burning them, could make money, Belle Glade officials told
1/4/24 Prism Reports article: Sugar harvesting pollution hits Black Florida residents hardest
1/8/24 Rolling Stone: A Fire in the River: Big Sugar and ‘Black Snow’ in the Everglades
1/13/24 Guardian Coverage: ‘Black snow’: sugarcane burning makes our lives hell, Florida locals say
11/1/23: CBS 12: Stop the Burn-Go Green Campaign takes to West Palm Beach demanding end to sugarcane burning
11/1/23: Palm Beach Post: Protestors ask heath officials to stop ignoring the deadly impacts of sugarcane burning
11/3/23: FRONT PAGE of the Palm Beach Post: ‘Their silence is killing people’: Residents want health warnings about sugar-cane fires
11/10/23: WLRN South Florida Round up: Palm Beach County sugarcane burning protest; Coral Gables could annex Little Gables; Sunken treasure off the coast of Colombia
10/2/23: West Orlando News: As Sugar Cane Fields Catch Fire, Business as Usual Must Go Up in Smoke
10/2/23: Fresh Take Podcast: Voices Behind the Smoke: Sugarcane Burning and the Impacts
10/10/23: Palm Beach Post: Sugar cane fires resume while Palm Beach County health officials remain silent on effects
10/19/23: Inside Climate News: In Florida, Gen Z Activists Step Into the Fight Against Sugarcane Burning
10/23/23: Mother Jones: Sugarcane Burning Is a Plague on These Black Floridians
8/23/23 CBS12.com news: FAU researchers secure $4.2 million for study on smoke exposure from agricultural fires & Alzheimer’s risk
8/25/23 WUSF Public Media: Florida researchers will study the effects of sugar cane burning on brain health
8/31/23 Palm Beach Post: Sugar-cane burning polices racially discriminate against people in Glades, complaint says
7/14/2023 Palm Beach Post: Why Palm Beach County’s health department hasn’t sounded the alarm on sugar-cane burning
April 12 Sierra Club: The Sugar Industry Is Taking Advantage Of My Community, And It Needs To Stop
March 1 WBUR: Pollution from sugar farming burns area residents
January 11 WLRN: ‘There’s no safe level’: Glades sugarcane burns continue despite link to tenfold mortality increase
January 20 Living on Earth (LOE) Burning Sugarcane Pollutes Communities of Color
12/27/22 Palm Beach Post: Sugar cane burn season still blankets Glades with smoke after study showing it kills people
- 10/2/22 Palm Beach Post: ‘Get off our lungs!’: 60 rally against sugar-cane burning in Glades
- 10/25/22 South Florida Times SUGARCANE BURNING BATTLE HEATING UP
- 8/13/22 Seeking Rents podcast: How Ron DeSantis and Nikki Fried Teamed Up to Defend Big Sugar
- 8/14/22 Palm Beach Post Glades residents left behind: Nikki Fried’s ‘changes’ to cane burning served only Big Sugar
- 8/15/22 Orlando Sentinal: Fried attacks journalists over Big Sugar story, claims they were paid by Sierra Club
- 8/18/22 WLRN South Florida: Charlie Crist says he’d seek alternatives to Glades sugar cane burning as governor
- 8/19/22 Politifact: Nikki Fried falsely claims environmental group paid for sugar cane coverage
- 8/30/22 Palm Beach Post: Sugar cane fire pollution kills up to three South Floridians yearly, study finds
- 8/31/22 FSU News: FSU researchers find link between health outcomes and smoke from sugarcane fires
- 8/31 WPEC CBS 12: New study examines sugarcane smoke and health risk
4/13/22 Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County Democrats urge Nikki Fried to expand sugar cane burning buffers
4/22/22 Palm Beach Post ‘Black Snow’ sugar-cane burning project wins Best of Gannett award for investigative journalism
3/3/22 Miami New Times: Class-Action Lawsuit Against Big Sugar Dismissed; Environmentalists Vow to Fight On
2/3/22 ProPublica/Palm Beach Post: How the Sugar Industry Makes Political Friends and Influences Elections
1/10/22 WLRN South Florida Roundup: Haiti’s assassination update, school staffing shortages, and healthier sugarcane harvesting in Brazil
1/17/22 New American Journal: How America’s Complicated History With Toxic Exposure and Environmental Racism is Impacting Vulnerable Communities
12/29/21 ProPublica/Palm Beach Post: Burning Sugar Cane Pollutes Communities of Color in Florida. Brazil Shows There’s Another Way.
12/30/21 ProPublica Palm Beach Post: After Years of Complaints, Florida Improves Pollution Monitoring Near Burning Sugar Cane Fields
10/27/21 Food Print What You Need to Know About Sugarcane Burning
10/29/21 ProPublica/Palm Beach Post “They Deserve to Be Safe”: Candidates Call on Florida to Investigate the Health Effects of Sugar Cane Burning
- 8/13/21 ProPublica/Palm Beach Post We Reported on Pollution From Sugar Cane Burning. Now Federal Lawmakers Want the EPA to Take Action.
- 8/19/21 ProPublica/Palm Beach Post A Complete Failure of the State”: Authorities Didn’t Heed Researchers’ Calls to Study Health Effects of Burning Sugar Cane
- 8/25/21 Al Jazeera The Take Podcast: How sugarcane burning is making people sick
- 7/8/21: ProPublica/Palm Beach Post The Smoke Comes Every Year. Sugar Companies Say the Air Is Safe.
- 7/8/21: ProPublica/Palm Beach Post Sugar Companies Said Our Investigation Is Flawed and Biased. Let’s Dive Into Why That’s Not the Case.
- 7/8/21: Palm Beach Post 5 things to know about Palm Beach Post, ProPublica cane burning investigation
- 7/9/21: Palm Beach Post What are the Glades? World-renowned, tiny cities that grew out of muck
- 7/13/21: WLRN Sundial: Key West Cruises, Haiti Update, And Sugar Cane Burning In Palm Beach County
- 7/14/21: CBS 12 News Bird’s eye view of controlled sugarcane burn
- 7/19/21: WGCU Gulf Coast Live ‘Black Snow’ Investigation by The Palm Beach Post & ProPublica Finds Cane Burning Causes Spikes in Air Pollution in Nearby Towns
- 7/19/21: ProPublica/Palm Beach Post: Testing the Air to Tell a Story: How We Investigated Air Pollution Near Florida’s Sugar Fields
5/12/21 Agri-Pulse Florida right-to-farm law expands protections from lawsuits
5/3/21: WGCU News Is Right to Farm Really About the Right to Farm?
5/3/21: Law360 Fla. Farm Bill Ripped As Sly Attack On Sugar Industry Suits
4/22/21: Miami Herald Legislators pass bill to protect sugar farmers from lawsuits over health hazards
4/16/21: WLRN News ‘Right to Farm Act’ Expansion Would Give Sugar Industry ‘Immunity Shield’ From Lawsuits, Says State Rep.
4/7/21: VSC News Florida Legislator: House Bill 1601 a Dangerous Piece of Legislation
4/7/21: WFSU News Democratic Lawmakers, Advocates Say Right To Farm Bill Is Ploy To Protect Sugarcane Burning
- 3/31/21: Miami Herald After sugar’s $11 million investment, a bipartisan push to protect industry
- 3/31/21: The Capitolist Legal protections for farmers moving in Florida House
- 3/5/21: WFSU News: Environmentalists Say Bill To Protect Farmers From Lawsuits Disenfranches Communities Impacted By Sugarcane Burning
- 2/2/2021 Miami New Times: Poor, Black, and Sick Floridians Battle Big Sugar in Court
- 2/5/2021 NASA Earth: Smoking Sugar Fields in South Florida
- 2/18/21 Boca Raton Tribune: FDACS Phase 2 Burning Rules Are All Smoke And Mirrors
- 12/28/2020 WLRN South Florida: Belle Glade’s Falling ‘Black Snow’ Is An Even Greater Concern As The COVID-19 Pandemic Continues
- 11/23/20 Spectrum News Orlando: Environmentalists Call for Action on Sugarcane Burning, Effects Could Aggravate COVID-19 Patients
- 11/20/20 Palm Beach Post: In Muck City, Glades activists argue, Black lives matter
- 11/15/20 Rachel Carson Council: The Bitter Side of Sugar
- 11/7/20 Green Party US: Sugarcane Nightmare: Our Children must not live in a Hazard Zone!
- 3/28/20 – Bloomberg News: The Burning Problem of America’s Sugar Cane Growers
- 12/1/19 AP News: Sugar field burning plagues poor Florida towns with soot
- 8/26/19 WGCU/NPR: https://news.wgcu.org/show/gulf-coast-life/2019-08-20/the-campaign-to-stop-pre-harvest-sugarcane-field-burning
- 8/21/19 TCPalm: https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/investigations/2019/08/21/sugar-cane-burning-increases-risk-cancer-and-asthma-studies-show/1571446001/?fbclid=IwAR2dYq4Wyio3vQG4xIga-c0EhEEsmSJA9wUlxNv1lvKzkXvvAmA5xNvIJUg
- 7/15/19 Civil Eats: https://civileats.com/2019/07/15/burning-sugarcane-in-florida-is-making-people-sick-could-green-harvesting-change-the-game/?fbclid=IwAR3kUlFfGkgsfiVG0PtsavWv3q87iWjinRtqfcBw8OfFtU0XRwdabQDOMas
- 7/9/19 Final Call: https://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/Black-snow-from-sugarcane.shtml
- 7/9/19 WLRN/NPR: https://www.wlrn.org/post/lawsuit-seeks-ban-sugarcane-burning-palm-beach-county#stream/0
- 3/26/19 TheMarjorie.org: Pt.1 https://tinyurl.com/y58hxnhb; Pt. 2 https://tinyurl.com/y3jmw5lb; Pt. 3 https://tinyurl.com/yyjhy2pg
Opinions/Editorials
3/20/24 Palm Beach Post Letter to the Editor: Green energy can save the Glades
1/17/24 Palm Beach Post Letter-to-the-Editor: Question ‘Big Sugar’ candidates
12/1/23 Palm Beach Post Letter-to-the-Editor: Mandate safer alternative to cane burning
11/15/23 Palm Beach Post Guest Editorial: Physicians: Stop open burning of sugar cane fields in Palm Beach County
7/20/23 Florida Pheonix Column by Craig Pitman: Environmental racism is rampant in Florida, but don’t mention it
- 8/17/22 Palm Beach Post Editorial: Editorial: Open-burning, broken promises; Nikki Fried fails to stand up to Big Sugar
- 8/21/22 TC Palm LTE: Before you vote, know each candidate’s position on cane burning
4/21/22 Palm Beach Post: Fried’s sugarcane efforts lacking
2/6/22 Palm Beach Post: When money talks louder than reason
10/6 Palm Beach Post: Glades activists say halt open burning of sugar fields
10/14 Palm Beach Post: Burning sugarcane causes worst smoke days | Commentary
- 8/17/21 Palm Beach Post Column Florida’s lawmakers have burning desire to please Big Sugar, its cane-fire practices | Frank Cerabino
- 8/27/21 Palm Beach Post Editorial Editorial: Florida Gov. DeSantis, legislature to Glades residents: Eat smoke.
7/8/21: Palm Beach Post Rick Christie: A worthwhile investment is holding the powerful accountable by giving voice to the voiceless
7/9/21: Editorial: Ban the burning of Florida sugarcane fields
7/13/21: Sun-Sentinal Democrats, Republicans unite to spoon feed Big Sugar | Randy Schultz
7/18/21: Palm Beach Post Letters: Sweet and sour responses to cane-burning
7/20/21: Palm Beach Post Letters: Clinicians: Stop burning sugarcane
6/3/21: Sun-Sentinel The alternative to burning sugar cane is a win-win-win solution | Opinion
5/6/21: Florida Phoenix Big Sugar burns fields, bends DeSantis and FL Legislature to do its bidding
5/20/21: TC Palm New law on farm operations benefits farmers over the health of nearby communities
4/28/21: Palm Beach Post Editorial: Governor, veto this shield for sugarcane burning
4/10/21: Miami Herald People get sick when sugarcane burns. Florida lawmakers giving industry a gift, anyway | Editorial
- 3/14/21: Sun-Sentinel Editorial Florida’s ‘right to farm’ bill protects the right to harm | Editorial
- 3/31: Orlando Sentinel Guest Editorial Right to Farm law unfairly favors agriculture
- 9/07/20 Florida sugarcane growers live in a parallel universe. Don’t buy in. https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/opinion/columns/2020/09/07/mitchell-sugarcane-growers-live-parallel-universe-dont-buy-in/5737908002
- 8/19/20: Stop the burn of pre-harvest sugarcane burning https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2020/08/19/point-of-view-stop-burn-of-pre-harvesting-sugarcane/113348626/
- 5/12/2020: Free corn doesn’t mitigate the harm from cane burning https://www.tcpalm.com/story/opinion/2020/05/12/letters-editor-may-12-2020/3093672001/?fbclid=IwAR39ZGWCZVm7uVb4gMb2tXF-5ytkhsmSSN20pLfqpduL08CIGMvdhOrMEC0
- 4/22/2020 Virus underscores need to stop sugar field burning https://www.naplesnews.com/story/opinion/contributors/2020/04/22/opinion-virus-underscores-need-stop-sugar-field-burning/3007859001/?fbclid=IwAR2EdR68dK5sPmVm9s4Oq5u8G6JODdwKDxRHjxDodYB8qL30maseDgfJ68M
- 9/19/19: Stop the burn, Big Sugar https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/letters/fl-op-letters-thursday-gun-rights-restrictions-big-sugar-bernie-20190919-2r562c4jnffihhgvram5zt4ywi-story.html
- 9/11/19 We want to be free of sticky black smoke and ash from cane burning https://www.tcpalm.com/story/opinion/readers/2019/09/11/letter-letters-editor-sept-11-2019/2262763001/
- 12/13/2018: Burning in the sugar cane fields is dangerous to health https://www.tcpalm.com/story/opinion/readers/2018/12/13/letter-burning-sugar-cane-fields-dangerous-health/2287013002/?fbclid=IwAR00DVrkdoY8gqwG5wP_EQe-Vbwcd_uyP6w0fj8vR2mCQ9-JMPs92y3lpdo
- 8/26/18: Stop the burning in Glades sugar fields https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/opinion/letters-campaign-posters-litter-serve
- -purpose/50CKJykzn2CLQTOKBwnt2O/
- 7/13/18: Don’t burn sugar cane, period https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/letters/Sunday-s-letters-Stop-burning-of-sugar-cane-near-the-Everglades_169932366/
- 4/19/18: Area sugar producers are anything but eco-friendly https://www.tcpalm.com/story/opinion/readers/2018/04/19/letter-area-sugar-producers-anything-but-eco-friendly/523332002/
Press Releases/Blog Posts
11/1/23 S.O.S D.O.H Protest Press Release: Activists Confront the Department of Health With the Burning Truth
- 10/1/22 Stop The Burn Go Green Campaign Press Release: PURVEYORS OF PRE-HARVEST SUGAR FIELD BURNING: This is life or death. We are holding you to account!
- 8/19/22 Stop The Burn Leadership Team Press Release: Stop The Burn Go Green Campaign Leaders Set the Record Straight Leadership team responds to Commissioner Fried’s Dismissive Statements
- 8/4/20: FDACS SMOKES THE GLADES, AGAIN New sugar field burning rules are a day late and a dollar short http://www.sierraclubfloridanews.org/2020/08/press-release-fdacs-smokes-glades-again.html
- 7/30/20: GLADES ACTIVISTS TO COMMISSIONER FRIED: “Stop Sacrificing Black Lives to Appease Big Sugar” https://www.sierraclub.org/florida/blog/2020/07/glades-activists-commissioner-fried-stop-sacrificing-black-lives-appease-big
- 6/4/20: GLADES ACTIVISTS TO COMMISSIONER FRIED: Walk the talk! Repair the injustice of yesterday and today https://www.sierraclub.org/florida/blog/2020/06/glades-activists-commissioner-fried-walk-talk-repair-injustices-yesterday-and
- 6/3/20: Stop The Burn Campaign Solidarity with Black Lives Matter: https://www.sierraclub.org/florida/blog/2020/06/stop-burn-campaign-stands-solidarity-black-lives-matter
- 4/27/20: 200+ ORGANIZATIONS CALL ON AG COMMISSIONER FRIED TO END PRE-HARVEST SUGAR FIELD BURNING: https://www.sierraclub.org/florida/blog/2020/04/200-organizations-call-ag-commissioner-end-sugar-field-burning
- 3/25/20: COVID-19 THREAT UNDERSCORES NEED TO END PRE-HARVEST SUGAR FIELD BURNING https://www.sierraclub.org/florida/blog/2020/03/covid-19-threat-underscores-need-end-sugar-field-burning
- 11/23/19: MUCK CITY AFLAME: Stop the Burn protest highlights failure of FDACS to protect community https://www.sierraclub.org/florida/blog/2019/11/muck-city-aflame-stop-burn-protest-highlights-failure-fdacs-protect-community
- 10/1/19: Public Safety Comes First? Changes to Pre-Harvest Sugar Field Burning Fall Short https://www.sierraclub.org/florida/blog/2019/10/public-safety-comes-first-changes-pre-harvest-sugar-field-burning-fall-short
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