By Justin Tramble, Tampa Bay Waterkeeper
The times are strange. Tension is palpable. But in this chaotic era of partisanship and division, there’s one thing that continues to unite all of us Floridians: We fight like hell to protect what little wild and real Florida we have left.
And in that spirit, we must adamantly oppose the Skyway Cruise Port.
We’ve grown tired of seeing our state disappear, vanish before our eyes. It’s a shared experience. No matter who you vote for or what news channel you watch, you get pretty riled up when you see the mangrove shoreline vanish, the creek that you grew up fishing disappear, or the woods you used to explore turn into a golf course. That’s the Florida experience, and we are in the corner of the ring, figuring out how we can hold on, because we are collectively getting our butt kicked. And hold on we must.
I think we all understand the importance of our fight. Will we be the generation to give the last bit of Florida away? That’s the question we are all asking ourselves in Tampa Bay and it unites us. That’s the Florida experience.
So when SSA Marine and Slip Knott LLC proposed a new cruise ship terminal near Terra Ceia Bay and Rattlesnake Key last month, the Tampa Bay community and Floridians rallied with renewed energy and spirit. Thousands of petitions circulated with enough noise on social media to rattle an empire (or an out-of-touch development firm).
The Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve is home to healthy and thriving seagrass, wetlands and a vital wildlife habitat. We’re talking about a pristine part of our estuary, one that has such significant ecological value.
In its current state, this area also has significant economic value. A healthy Tampa Bay estuary is vital to the entire region’s economy and quality of life. According to the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, approximately 1 in 10 jobs and 10.8% of the region’s total economic output is sustained by the estuary.
The Skyway Cruise Port would pose not only an obvious and significant environmental threat but would have far-reaching negative economic impacts. The largest beneficiary of this proposal is the private developers’ bank accounts. The rest of us would lose.
We already have cruise ships. We already have a booming tourism industry. You know what we don’t have a lot of? Untouched shoreline in Tampa Bay.
Red, blue, suits, ties, cast nets and sunscreen. The opposition is real and it is all of us.
Stop the Skyway Cruise Port.
Justin Tramble is the executive director of Tampa Bay Waterkeeper. This opinion piece was originally published by the Tampa Bay Times, which is a media partner of The Invading Sea. Banner photo: A cruise ship at Port Tampa Bay, where cruise ships currently dock in the region (iStock image).
Sign up for The Invading Sea newsletter by visiting here. To support The Invading Sea, click here to make a donation. If you are interested in submitting an opinion piece to The Invading Sea, email Editor Nathan Crabbe.
