Restoration costs soar as seas rise and pythons slither in

摘要

The ballyhooed Everglades rescue - one of the world's largest ecosystem restoration efforts - is in trouble,besieged by rising seas, rapacious developers, toxic algal blooms and a python invasion worthy of a horrormovie.And then there's the ballooning price tag.The most recent cost estimate for the restoration - the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP)- is an eye-popping $23 billion, triple the $7.8 billion price tag attached when President Clinton signed it inDecember 2000.Its many boosters insist the project, which sailed through Congress by overwhelming margins - 394-14 in theHouse, 85-1 in the Senate - will withstand the test of time and protect the Everglades for generations.