Coral in Florida Keys suffers lethal hit from cold

Given the depth and duration of frigid weather, Meaghan Johnson, marine science coordinator for The Nature Conservancy, expected to see losses. But she was stunned by what she saw when diving a patch reef 2.5 miles off Harry Harris Park in Key Largo.

Star and brain corals, large species that can take hundreds of years to grow, were as white and lifeless as bones, frozen to death. There were also dead sea turtles, eels and parrotfish littering the bottom.
...
Cold-water bleaching is unusual, last occurring in 1977, the year it snowed in Miami. It killed hundreds of acres of staghorn and elkhorn corals across the Keys. Neither species has recovered, both becoming the first corals to be federally listed as threatened in 2006.

This big chill, said Causey, shapes up worse.

"They were exposed to temperatures much colder, that went on longer, than what they were exposed to three decades ago," he said.

High heat bills fuel anger among APCo customers

In Madison Heights, customer Christopher Mathews got a $422 bill. He got angry enough that he decided to take action. On Monday he plans to e-mail hundreds of people asking them to contact state lawmakers to speak against APCo.

Mathews said he would like to see laws that rein in rate increases by bringing in competition or simply limiting rate hikes.

In addition to laws, he hopes APCo customers send the company a message by buying less electricity. "I don't think they deserve people's money," he said. "I think people should boycott them and get wind turbines."