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Moving Water: The Everglades and Big Sugar
Only a century ago, nearly all of South Florida was under water. The Everglades, one of the largest wetlands in the world, was a watery arc extending over 3 million acres. Today, that wetland ecosystem is half of its former self, supplanted by housing for the region's exploding population and over 700,000 acres of crops, including the nation's largest supply of sugar cane. Countless canals, dams, and pump stations keep the trickle flowing, but rarely address the cascade of environmental consequences, including dangerous threats to a crucial drinking water source for a full third of Florida's residents.
In Moving Water, environmental journalist Amy Green explores the story of unlikely conservation heroes George and Mary Barley, wealthy real estate developers and champions of the Everglades, whose complicated legacy spans from fisheries in Florida Bay to the political worlds of Tallahassee and Washington. At the center of their surprising saga is the establishment and evolution of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), a $17 billion taxpayer-funded initiative aimed at reclaiming this vital ecosystem. Green explains that, like the meandering River of Grass, the progress of CERP rarely runs straight, especially when it comes up against the fierce efforts of sugar-growing interests, or "Big Sugar," to obstruct the cleanup of fertilizer runoff wreaking havoc with restoration.
This engrossing expos� tackles some of the most important issues of our time: Is it possible to save a complex ecosystem such as the Everglades--or, once degraded, are such ecological wonders gone forever? What kind of commitments--economic, scientific, and social--will it take to rescue our vulnerable natural resources? What influences do special interests wield in our everyday lives, and what does it take to push real reform through our democracy? A must-read for anyone fascinated by stories of political intrigue and the work of environmental crusaders like Erin Brockovich, as well as anyone who cares about the future of Florida, this book reveals why the Everglades serve as a model--and a warning--for environmental restoration efforts worldwide.
In Moving Water, environmental journalist Amy Green explores the story of unlikely conservation heroes George and Mary Barley, wealthy real estate developers and champions of the Everglades, whose complicated legacy spans from fisheries in Florida Bay to the political worlds of Tallahassee and Washington. At the center of their surprising saga is the establishment and evolution of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), a $17 billion taxpayer-funded initiative aimed at reclaiming this vital ecosystem. Green explains that, like the meandering River of Grass, the progress of CERP rarely runs straight, especially when it comes up against the fierce efforts of sugar-growing interests, or "Big Sugar," to obstruct the cleanup of fertilizer runoff wreaking havoc with restoration.
This engrossing expos� tackles some of the most important issues of our time: Is it possible to save a complex ecosystem such as the Everglades--or, once degraded, are such ecological wonders gone forever? What kind of commitments--economic, scientific, and social--will it take to rescue our vulnerable natural resources? What influences do special interests wield in our everyday lives, and what does it take to push real reform through our democracy? A must-read for anyone fascinated by stories of political intrigue and the work of environmental crusaders like Erin Brockovich, as well as anyone who cares about the future of Florida, this book reveals why the Everglades serve as a model--and a warning--for environmental restoration efforts worldwide.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published March 2, 2021
8 people are currently reading
1104 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 20, 2023
I live on the edge of the Everglades, so I am deeply interested in this topic. However, this book left me wanting. This reads like a magazine article that the author stretched into a book -- there's just not enough substance. The author uses extended quotes and entire op-eds from newspapers to extend the text. It's only 214 pages, and ten of those pages are entire funeral speeches from one of the subjects who died. There IS so good info here, but nothing you couldn't learn from Google.
May 12, 2021
The health of the Everglades is deteriorating, though the cause, and subsequently the solution to this complex environmental problem is a nuanced network of challenges for the field of political ecology. Renowned environmental journalist Amy Green does her best to disentangle the problem by focusing on a single link of the network, the story of real estate investors-turned-environmentalists, and their fight with Big Sugar over water availability and pollution in the Everglades. What ensues is a national political and economic battle over who should bear the brunt of responsibility for the state of the Everglades, essentially who would finance its restoration. While the environmentalists point fingers directly at Big Sugar, the behemoth industry threatens job loss and higher sugar costs if they are required to foot the bill.
The book relays an important theme that is central to political ecology: the ways in which the materiality of natural resources (which form an increasingly complex network of agents such as water, land, sugar, mangroves, fish, and algae), are fueled by capitalist greed, and have driven environmental and economic policies and decisions regarding resource use. In this vein, the materiality of natural resources, each a mosaicked web of complex abiotic and biotic actors, drives the fate of Florida’s Everglades system. Green focuses on a limited number of actors, water and sugar, to flesh out the story of the Everglades.
Water especially drives the political, environmental, and economic policies, decisions around resource use, and contributes to the socioeconomic trajectories of the systems outlined in the book. Though it is an essential resource for human life and the life of the Everglades, Green points out that it has a complicated history in Florida. The hydrological systems that created and controlled the landscape of Florida have been damned, diked, diverted, and drained, all for agriculture and to create sites more suitable for human development. In Moving Water, Sugar is the main offender behind this hydrological destruction, the industry relies on clean water for its sugar cane fields, but dumps the used, polluted water right into the Everglades. These manipulations have put Florida’s supply of fresh water in jeopardy and has wreaked havoc on the Everglades, the land that used to be the final destination for much of Florida’s hydrology. Throughout the book, water is both the problem and the solution to the health of the Everglades and the strength of the sugar industry.
How can fresh water as a natural resource have such a contentious position of being both a nuisance and a coveted, endangered life sustaining force? Green argues that we have not yet seen the true consequences that ‘moving water’ will have on the state, and that ironically the answer to the Everglades problems will rely on moving water again, undoubtedly with new consequences. This concept, of unlimited actors driving environmental trajectories, reveals a weakness in Green’s argument. Her focus on the Sugar Industry as the perpetrator of the degradation of the Everglades ignores the countless other biotic and abiotic actors that drive the fate of the ecosystem.
What role does the presence of invasive species, real estate development, water extraction for domestic and commercial use, or climate change play in the story of the Everglades? If Big Sugar was removed from the picture, the Everglades would certainly still be affected by these actors, just as the unlimited biotic and abiotic drivers in Can the Mosquito Speak contributed to the ultimate socioeconomic trajectories in Egypt after the introduction of the mosquito. A broader look at multiple actors would help to drive the discussion about how, and whether it is possible, to save the Everglades from such a multifaceted environmental destruction. Ultimately, Moving Water is a compelling read that takes a deep dive into a single thread of a complicated network of issues. Green effectively alerts the reader to the dangers faced by an important ecological system, yet her argument feels slightly disingenuous in its singular focus.
The book relays an important theme that is central to political ecology: the ways in which the materiality of natural resources (which form an increasingly complex network of agents such as water, land, sugar, mangroves, fish, and algae), are fueled by capitalist greed, and have driven environmental and economic policies and decisions regarding resource use. In this vein, the materiality of natural resources, each a mosaicked web of complex abiotic and biotic actors, drives the fate of Florida’s Everglades system. Green focuses on a limited number of actors, water and sugar, to flesh out the story of the Everglades.
Water especially drives the political, environmental, and economic policies, decisions around resource use, and contributes to the socioeconomic trajectories of the systems outlined in the book. Though it is an essential resource for human life and the life of the Everglades, Green points out that it has a complicated history in Florida. The hydrological systems that created and controlled the landscape of Florida have been damned, diked, diverted, and drained, all for agriculture and to create sites more suitable for human development. In Moving Water, Sugar is the main offender behind this hydrological destruction, the industry relies on clean water for its sugar cane fields, but dumps the used, polluted water right into the Everglades. These manipulations have put Florida’s supply of fresh water in jeopardy and has wreaked havoc on the Everglades, the land that used to be the final destination for much of Florida’s hydrology. Throughout the book, water is both the problem and the solution to the health of the Everglades and the strength of the sugar industry.
How can fresh water as a natural resource have such a contentious position of being both a nuisance and a coveted, endangered life sustaining force? Green argues that we have not yet seen the true consequences that ‘moving water’ will have on the state, and that ironically the answer to the Everglades problems will rely on moving water again, undoubtedly with new consequences. This concept, of unlimited actors driving environmental trajectories, reveals a weakness in Green’s argument. Her focus on the Sugar Industry as the perpetrator of the degradation of the Everglades ignores the countless other biotic and abiotic actors that drive the fate of the ecosystem.
What role does the presence of invasive species, real estate development, water extraction for domestic and commercial use, or climate change play in the story of the Everglades? If Big Sugar was removed from the picture, the Everglades would certainly still be affected by these actors, just as the unlimited biotic and abiotic drivers in Can the Mosquito Speak contributed to the ultimate socioeconomic trajectories in Egypt after the introduction of the mosquito. A broader look at multiple actors would help to drive the discussion about how, and whether it is possible, to save the Everglades from such a multifaceted environmental destruction. Ultimately, Moving Water is a compelling read that takes a deep dive into a single thread of a complicated network of issues. Green effectively alerts the reader to the dangers faced by an important ecological system, yet her argument feels slightly disingenuous in its singular focus.
March 13, 2026
Probs more 2.5 stats
This was a relatively short book and yet it certain parts it felt too long. I don’t think every speaker in George’s funeral needed their full speeches included. It was more of a news overview of the fight against big sugar but I think it missed more of the important details and instead focused on statements made to the press. Like I would’ve liked more included from scientists or more details about the word/language of the policies rather than some of the information that was included. I rounded up rather than down because this is an important and concerning issue and I would like to see more work done on helping restore the Everglades.
This was a relatively short book and yet it certain parts it felt too long. I don’t think every speaker in George’s funeral needed their full speeches included. It was more of a news overview of the fight against big sugar but I think it missed more of the important details and instead focused on statements made to the press. Like I would’ve liked more included from scientists or more details about the word/language of the policies rather than some of the information that was included. I rounded up rather than down because this is an important and concerning issue and I would like to see more work done on helping restore the Everglades.
March 7, 2021
I received this book as an ARC, and was glad to have the opportunity to read it. It is an interesting look into the politics behind environmental work, specifically in the Everglades of Florida.
March 8, 2021
Very informative and eye opening read about a subject I was not aware of, the conservation of the Florida Everglades.
January 30, 2022
Amy Green does a wonderful job tracing the complicated politics and interests in modern day Everglades restoration through the lens of the Barley family. A must-read for Everglades wonks!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews