Editorial: New Cross-Florida Canal?

New Cross-Florida Canal ??

A new cross-Florida barge canal project is in the works. The old cross-Florida canal project, long abandoned, left the Ocklawaha River dammed and a stagnant sludge filled lake behind the dam. The new project would draw water from the Okefinokee Swamp to fill canal locks for the climb from Jacksonville to Lake City . Beyond Lake City barges would have a downhill run the Suwannee River to the Gulf of Mexico . The project is surpassed in lunacy only by the Buckeye paper mill waste pipeline to the Gulf, a project that seems to have nine lives.

Canal projects thrill the Army Corp of Engineers and bulldozer manufacturers. But, canals destroy natural water systems, disrupt aquatic ecosystems and eat tax dollars. The Suwannee River Water Management District must fight this barge canal.

Edward Teller, the so-called father of the H-bomb, proposed a sea-level canal across
Nicaragua . He recommended excavation of the canal with twenty strategically placed H-bombs. Teller announced his plan on April 1, 1974 . The fallout from the plan was political rather than radioactive Strontium 90.(Unfortunately, Teller`s pan was not a hoax.)

Cedar Key News recommends that readers analyze whatever they see in print, even in Cedar Key News. Boys in allegedly escaped balloons and Unidentified Flying Objects make news, but be careful what you take on face value, especially on April First.