Nearly 1.5 million acres of wetlands has vanished. The loans are made to sugarcane processors who purchase the crop at a guaranteed price. They can hold the final product for up to nine months in an attempt to get a price higher than the USDA's minimum price, after which they repay the loan. But those who support this lobby, like Congressman Sander Levin, receive substantial PAC money contributions. These subsidies and price supports encourage more sugar production than is needed.
High production requires use of pesticides, herbicides and phosphate heavy fertilizer.
Aa a result, an increasing mass of plant algae within Florida Bay is making its way through the Florida Keys to the Atlantic, suffocating the only coral reef off North America. Cleanup will cost over a billion dollars. The tobacco lobby spares no expense when it comes to protecting their profits. Among them are Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, former Texas Governor Ann Richards, former White House Chief of Staff Howard Baker and former Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour. Howard Baker registered as a tobacco lobbyist in October, 1997.