Florida resorts - save the turtles and clear our conscience

I’m always struck by the hypocrisy of big, oceanfront resorts that beg you to save the turtles.

I’m driving around a fancy, Florida resort island. I used to come down here years ago, fishing the Ten Thousand Islands. It was an unbelievable paradise.

I won’t tell you the name (Hint: it’s Marco Island).

Today, it’s crammed full of homes, resorts, expensive shops and everything under the sun you can cram onto an island to make money. And a lot of people did make money here, and continue to rake it in in vast quantities.

The island I knew as a kid is gone, which is true of most of southwest Florida. Nearly every semblance of wildlife has been killed, driven off, banished, destroyed, along with their habitat.

Now, the resorts nobly ask you to dim the lights inside your luxury suite so you don’t bother the nesting turtles.

If you really wanted to save the damn turtles, why did you build on their nesting grounds? This so-called environmentalism is just another craven marketing tool.

Look, I’m not trying to say progress is a bad thing, just don’t try to force-feed me your phony-baloney love of nature. If environmentalism weren’t so trendy, all those turtles you care so much about would be on the menu, a soup before the entrée.