Big sugar took its lumps, then made a deal

I don't know much about this, and for 1.75 Billion, I probably should.
But there is ONE feature of it that I love. We are not passing some environmental law that will cost someone 1.75 Billion, we are not dictating more and more what people can and cannot do with their own land. We (The state of Florida) is BUYING the land. Then as the new owners we will rightfully dictate what happens on that land.

It's a lot of money, and maybe the tide was turning and we could have made the land worthless (for Sugar production or anything else) by passing more and more environmental restrictions. But we didn't, we choose to buy the land. And this is one of my pet peeves. If we want to right to tell someone what they can and cannot do with their own land, whether its environmentalists or home owner associations, the only honorable way to do that is to BUY THE LAND.

Granted, the pollution from sugar production was about runoff from the land, not stuff that stayed on the land. But the idea is the same. By buying the land, we're putting our money where our values are and probably saving money in the long run with all the court costs that this sort of thing would require. Plus this way is also quicker.

Plus I LOVE the fact that a republican governor is making headlines with an environmental deal that he himself seems to have championed. Whatever you think of this, it is taking some of the ammo away from the liberals.

Big sugar took its lumps, then dealt -- OrlandoSentinel.com