On this Thursday, Feb 4th episode of Sundial:
The Marlins Park Saga
If you鈥檝e lived in Miami at some point in the past decade or two, you鈥檙e probably familiar with the controversy surrounding Marlins Park. Essentially, it was paid for with more than $600 million taxpayer dollars.
The city agreed to pay for it 鈥� as long as the team鈥檚 then-owner shared in any profits he made from selling the team.
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鈥淚n 2008, Jeffrey Loria, the former owner of the Marlins, threatened to leave Miami if they didn't get a new stadium. The Major League Baseball president at the time, Bob Dupuy, put an ultimatum to [Miami-Dade] County saying, 'If you guys don't help finance a new stadium, you can kiss baseball in South Florida goodbye,'鈥� said SA国际传谋 reporter Danny Rivero on Sundial.
When Loria sold the team in 2017 for $1.2 billion, he refused to share the money promised, claiming he lost money in the sale.
鈥淗e said because of that, he didn鈥檛 owe the county or the city any money on this. That is what led to the lawsuit with the county and the city saying, 鈥楬old on. Like, there's no way that that math adds up. Like, we're clearly owed something.鈥� The taxpayers are owed something from this huge profit,鈥� Rivero said.
This week on that lawsuit filed by the county, but commissioners decided to delay voting on the proposed $4.2 million from settling the suit.
Illegal Fishing
When you take a bite out of spicy tuna roll, or purchase salmon from your local supermarket, do you know if that fish was obtained illegally?
It鈥檚 nearly impossible to pinpoint just how much of that fish is coming from illegal sources, . Marine ecosystems have been devastated by these unregulated markets and the practice of overfishing.
鈥淔ish is the principal source of protein in the world. Lots of populations throughout the world only depend on fish and fish to survive. One of the most devastating impacts that illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing has is that it takes away the only source of protein that many coastal communities have throughout the world,鈥� said former Costa Rican president Luis Guillermo Sol铆s on Sundial.
Sol铆s is currently interim chair of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University. He was part of the university鈥檚 annual this week, where he presented on the illegal fishing market.
He added that as a consumer, insisting that stores identify the source of the fish they鈥檙e selling, is a step in the right direction.
鈥淔ishing has been determined as of the highest national security importance. This is very important in the Western Hemisphere. It's going to be fundamental because it will allow for greater degrees of collaboration between our countries,鈥� Sol铆s said.
Are Plastic Bans Good For The Environment?
Plastic pollution contributes to a lot of our environmental hardships. It harms wildlife, the ocean and it contributes to the climate crisis by .
But plastic is also practical, durable and cheap.
Florida has a state-level preemption that blocks local governments from banning single-use plastics.
鈥淲e need to ask companies to reduce the amount of plastic they are putting into the supply chain and find alternative ways to package and deliver their products,鈥� said Catherine Uden, the South Florida campaign organizer for . 鈥淥ften consumers are not even given a choice when they go to the stores.鈥�
In January, state lawmakers Linda Stewart and Mike Grieco to change that preemption to allow local plastic bans. Some argue, though, that these bans are not the solution.
鈥淭here are legitimate and environmentally conscious reasons for why we use plastic,鈥� said David Clement, with the advocacy group.
鈥淭he differences between a glass container for something like baby food and a plastic container. It's about 33 percent better for the environment to have that product be in plastic because it's lighter. It's easier to get to your grocery shelf. It costs less in terms of fuel and emissions,鈥� Clement said.
Clement recently penned an saying that extending the lifespan of plastics by building better infrastructure for recycling would be a better option.
Recycling, as it is now, has not been effective 鈥� all plastic waste has been recycled.
鈥淚t's like going into your house and seeing your sink overflowing and instead of turning off the tap, then just grabbing them up and trying to mop up the floor,鈥� said local advocate Andrew Otazo. He spends his time cleaning up plastic trash from South Florida鈥檚 waterways.
