Happy Earth Day! Today is a celebration of this amazing planet and the hard work we all do to ensure our beautiful environment will be around for the next generation to enjoy. 

Since joining Congress, I’ve fought hard to protect the waterways along the Treasure Coast from harmful Lake Okeechobee discharges. These discharges have negatively impacted our economic livelihoods, property values, and way of life.

While we’ve made significant progress in preventing another lost summer, we still have a long way to go.

For years, I’ve been demanding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stop discharging toxic water from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River. Early this month, we got some good news when the Army Corps announced it would stop the discharges provided the “atmospheric” science did not change.

What does that mean exactly? We don’t know, but I’ll continue fighting to hold the Army Corps accountable for the discharges and ignoring federal law. The Army Corps’ current halt falls short of the plan that I wrote into law requiring them to develop additional infrastructure to COMPLETELY stop discharges into our estuaries.

Keeping this planet sustainable for future generations is our responsibility.