Growing Climate Solutions is beginning its first SWFL Climate Compass Speaker Series. Get three distinct perspectives on charting a path to climate resilience by registering for A Conservative Approach to Solving Climate Change on February 24, The Nexus of Our Climate, Oceans, and Security: Challenges and Opportunities on March 24 and The Coastal Real Estate Reckoning is Already Happening on April 21. All programs are free. To learn more and register, visit GrowingClimateSolutions.org. 

WGCU, Southwest Florida’s source for PBS and NPR, welcomes Valerie Vande Panne as the news staff environmental reporter to focus on climate and water quality issues in Southwest Florida. The position is funded by a grant on a contract period of one year. Contact Vande Panne at [email protected].

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida and its partners filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its decision to let the Florida Department of Environmental Protection assume jurisdiction over the Clean Water Act Section 404 permitting program, which regulates the dredging and filling of U.S. waters, including wetlands essential to water quality, storm and climate resiliency, threatened and endangered species, and the economy. The decision would fast-track development permits throughout the state, which is the first attempt in more than 25 years to seek resumption of the 404 wetland “dredge and fill” permitting program from the federal government. The authorization makes protecting SWFs wetlands more difficult because several federal protections will no longer be applicable. The decision removes the checks and balances necessary for overseeing requests for new communities, roadways and mines. The public is encouraged to write and call their state and federal legislators, as well as the EPA, to request that the decision be rescinded. For more information, visit Conservancy.org.