In Trump county, Miami-Dade mayor felt the pressure and flipped incinerator stance | Opinion

In trying to solve the nearly two-year-long saga of where to send Miami-Dade County’s trash, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava found herself in the unusual position of facing pressure from the environmental groups that have normally supported her and from President Donald Trump’s family and allies, who now control much of the county’s politics.

In the end, the pressure seems to have worked, with the mayor reversing a stance she’s held since 2023.

Levine Cava announced over the weekend she was backing off from her administration’s recommendation to rebuild a waste-to-energy incinerator in Doral, just three miles from where Trump owns a golf course. She’s now recommending the county continue to ship trash to landfills as far away as Central Florida, even though just two months ago, she criticized that option. Her flip-flop frustrated even her own allies on the county commission during a Tuesday meeting.

Levine Cava prides herself on listening to all sides of an issue. But the mayor, a Democrat elected to a nonpartisan position, is anything but politically naive. The dominance of Trump after he carried Miami-Dade in the presidential election last year — plus the opposition the incinerator got from officials in Doral and Miramar, whose cities would be close to the sites she previously proposed — made this a losing issue for her.

The question now is whether her change of mind will lead to the best outcome for a county that produces on average twice as much waste per capita as the rest of the nation. Or if this is really just a case of out of sight, out of mind if the county ends up simply hauling its waste somewhere else.

Landfills release methane, a greenhouse gas, but some environmental groups say, when done right, they are more sustainable than incinerators. However, research by Levine Cava’s administration until now pointed to a waste-to-energy facility as the best option. What’s truly better for the environment is now muddled after her reversal.

In Nov. 22 memo, Levine Cava argued Doral, where the county’s previous incinerator was located for 40 years until a fire in 2023, was the best location for a new one. She touted the environmental benefits of waste-to-energy plants, writing they produce clean energy, have lower greenhouse gas emissions than landfills and “state-of-the-art pollution control systems.”

“Visits by Commissioners and myself to [waste-to-energy] facilities in Japan, Europe, and the U.S. show that with the right technology and regulations, these facilities can be successfully integrated into communities,” she wrote.

On Nov. 25, however, she told Trump’s son Eric in a phone call that she would ask for a delay on an expected vote by the county commission on her proposal so she could consider other options, the Herald reported. It became clear at that point she was losing political support for her plans.

Now, Levine Cava’s administration says the best course of action is to use trucks and trains to haul garbage to private landfills or to new ones the county could build in Central Florida. That directly contradicts what she wrote in November: “As the County’s landfills reach capacity, transporting waste over long distances is neither sustainable nor cost-effective.”

Levine Cava’s office told the Herald Editorial Board via email that she changed her mind because of the anticipated costs related to an incinerator and the delays the expected legal challenges would create. A new landfill would cost $556 million to build, versus the $1.5 billion the county planned to spend on the new incinerator, but annual operating costs of the landfill would be higher, the Herald reported.

“Through all our fact-finding and due diligence, we are confident that modern waste-to-energy is safe for people and the planet. However, the costs of building and maintaining a new WTE facility have proven to be extremely high,” she wrote in a statement. “It is critical that we not create an undue burden to our ratepayers, especially at a time when too many families are struggling with rising costs and we are facing mounting pressure on our county budget.”

Her new position was applauded by environmental groups such as the Sierra Club. The organization has argued that the county should adopt a “zero waste” approach by ramping up recycling and composting and reducing single-plastic use for cleaner landfills.

Miami-Dade County has increased recycling enforcement and education and required vendors at county-owned facilities to switch from plastic products to more sustainable options. The commission is also discussing expanding composting and recycling more items, such as mattresses. But with state laws that preempt regulations local governments can impose, Miami-Dade is limited in what it can do.Now it’s up to county commissioners to decide which of the mayor’s recommendations they will vote on. Levine Cava’s evolving stance makes wading through the science of waste management much for difficult for them and the public.

Click here to send the letter.

This story was originally published January 29, 2025 at 12:54 PM.