Editor’s note: Locally, Florida Power and Light has spent more than $200,000 in pushing for passage of two local referendums and in supporting City Council candidates such as Tracy Carroll, Harry Howle, Lange Sykes and Laura Moss. At the state level, FPL has poured so much money into political campaigns and political action committees that the Tampa Bay Times editorial board this year described the Florida Legislature as “a wholly owned subsidiary of FPL.” 

RURAL AMERICA IN THESE TIMES

In their seventh attempt to put an end to the environmental threats the oil and gas industry pose to their land, water and right to self-governance, a community rights group in Youngstown, Ohio, is attempting to amend their city’s charter in order to ban corporate interference in their local elections.

With assistance from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF)—a non-profit, public interest law firm that provides legal services to communities facing outside threats to their local environment, local agriculture, local economy and quality of life—the Youngstown Community Bill of Rights Committee has gathered and submitted the signatures required to get the initiative, explained below, on their November ballot. Continue reading…