Florida Gov. Charlie Crist announced today that the state is buying 187,000 acres of land (an area approximately the size of New York City) near the Everglades from U.S. Sugar. The company, the nation's largest sugar cane manufacturer, is going out of business. This, combined with a land swap with another sugar producer, will restore natural water flows to the Everglades after a century-long disruption.
What's more, U.S. Sugar is so big (it produces a tenth of the nation's cane sugar) that this will deal a big blow to lobbying power of the sugar industry, which has historically been very effective in its attempts to get the government to protect it from competition. What's more, less domestic production means more sugar importation, something domestic producers try to prevent.
That's good 'cause farm subsidies are bad, but also because it could lead to a return of sugar in soda pop (lower tariffs could make sugar cheaper than corn syrup) which, as anyone who has tried a Mexican coke knows, is way better (oh and it's good for the environment too ...).
--Sam Boyd