In what’s being billed as the largest environmental restoration effort in history, the Clinton administration today will announce a plan to spend $7.8 billion over the next 20 years to help restore the Florida Everglades. The money — half from the feds, half from the state — would be used largely to undo a 1,700-mile network of canals and levees built between the 1940s and 1970s. The goal is to mimic natural water flows and help wildlife recover. Congress will soon be asked to approve the first $1.2 billion for the plan. Vice Pres. Al Gore is a big proponent of the plan, as is Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), brother of the leading GOP presidential contender, Texas Gov. George W. Bush.
