Once again, I am writing about the state of our water and environment.

I am one of many residents of the Treasure Coast concerned with this. Being concerned is not the same as having much of an impact on fixing our water quality and environment. There is not a single person who would say that having toxic algae threaten our quality of life is acceptable.

Some of this is due to development here and some because of agriculture around the lake and along our own canals. Most is for the economic benefit of Central Florida/Orlando with the added complication of the dike, South Florida developments and protection of what’s left of the Everglades.

It does not really matter what I and most residents believe. We are just background noise to the people that do matter in this battle. Big Agriculture and Big Developers are the forces with money and therefore those that pull the strings. These are the individuals and companies who can make or break political careers. They are the kingmakers who can spend millions to put individuals into office. Do you believe they are not looking for something in return?

Money manipulates our politics. It decides who can run for office and be elected. With the demise of political ideology that parties ascribe to in practice if not rhetorically, any party or politician can be used by these forces. They are experts in thwarting solutions if those solutions would prevent them making a buck. This is the state of our politics and elected officials.

Some of this nefarious behavior is subtle while other action is overt. Depending on circumstances, our elected officials attempt to be seen as pro clean water but do nothing to further real solutions to the problem. Competing goals and ideas make it seem as if something is being done, yet the status quo remains.

Whether you call yourself a Republican or Democrat, Liberal or Conservative, we all want clean water and a sustainable environment. The variable to obtain what we want is how much we are willing to do to further that goal. As consumers, are we willing to pay more for the products we buy? As taxpayers, are we willing to pay more for government to clean up the environment? As residents, are we willing to pay more to live on the Treasure Coast, Florida and the United States?

A clean environment requires sacrifices. Are we willing to do what is necessary to have what we want?