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Abstract
As part of efforts to restore the Everglades, in 2008, Governor Crist of Florida proposed the
acquisition of 187,000 acres of land from the U.S. Sugar Corporation (U.S. Sugar) for this
purpose, but the final purchase in August 2010 totaled only 26,800 acres. This article presents
the history behind the alternatives, including the buyout of U.S. Sugar land, to improve
Florida’s water quality and the health of the Everglades. To determine the benefits and costs
of several of the U.S. Sugar land buyout proposals, a spatial price equilibrium model of the
U.S. sugar market is developed. Within this framework, all the benefit–cost ratios calculated
show that the benefits are less than the costs. Our analysis uses the concept of an Environmental
Equivalent, which is the dollar amount of environmental benefits needed from the
Everglades restoration or water quality projects to generate benefits that are as great as or
greater than its costs. Also, we consider, within the context of ex ante vs. ex post benefit–cost
analysis, the developments to clean up the Everglades since the U.S. Sugar land purchase.