There are several things going on in Cedar Key concerning our environment, some positive and some very negative. First, the positive. The City Commission at its last meeting announced that our beautiful islands will have a new solid waste program by the end of June, including (a) curbside recycling, (b) unit pricing, in which the customer picks which size trash can they want, and (c) recycling of our yard waste. This program, along with other programs that we will work to implement in the future, has the potential to reduce the solid waste that we produce by more than 50%. That would be more than 1,500,000 pounds of trash diverted from the landfill and turned into a resource. We know that other towns and cities have achieved these goals. The Energy Advisory Panel will continue to work to have our city become a model for energy awareness, conservation, and sustainability. Now, the negative, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. There are two root causes for this disaster. The first is our nation`s consumption of oil. We use over 20,000,000 barrels of oil per day. That is over 1,100,000,000 gallons daily. The second reason for this oil spill is that our federal government has allowed the oil industry to write its own safety regulations. As a result, the well that is pouring oil into our Gulf waters did not have extra safety features in place, safety equipment required by just about every other oil-producing country in the world - but, no, not here. It seems that the oil industry`s lobbying efforts worked. Now, Gulf Coast residents will pay the price. The City of Cedar Key has been pro-active in responding to this oil spill threat. Our city leaders are working to get through the misinformation, or lack of information. There are several layers of bureaucracy to work through.
One of the best things that we as a community can do at this time is sign up to volunteer. Actually, there are two volunteer opportunities. One is for people who want to volunteer for the response to help impacted wildlife. The other is for the Vessels of Opportunity program, for people who want to participate in the water response. We encourage people with boats to sign up (although you`re not required to have your own boat to become a volunteer). Most volunteers will be required to have Hazmat training because oil is a hazardous material. If you want to volunteer, you`ll find sign-up sheets at City Hall. Cedar Key is a tough, resilient community. When the net ban put fishermen of out business, we became the clam farming capital of the country. We know that we will do everything possible to prevent the oil from affecting our pristine estuaries. You will not see equipment coming into town and setting up response centers until the oil gets much closer to us. We will be prepared as best we can. Lord willing, we will be spared. - by Tom Deverin | 
