Nearly 90% of sea turtle nesting in the U.S. occurs in the state of Florida. In fact, visitors are often surprised to learn that more than 100,000 threatened and endangered sea turtles nest on Florida beaches every summer.

The biggest threat to sea turtle survival is light pollution. Sea turtle hatchlings have a strong attraction to light. Human-generated light from street lights and buildings can make hatchlings disoriented, crawling toward the light and away from the beach. On Florida’s Atlantic coast, some beaches with high turtle nesting density have lost thousands of hatchlings due to artificial light.

Florida’s coastal cities and towns have made great strides in limiting light pollution in areas where sea turtles nest. Local cities and counties have passed ordinances limiting the kinds of lights that can be installed near shorelines.

But a new law waiting for the Governor to sign — SB 620 — threatens the ability of local governments to pass important conservation measures like the light pollution laws.

This law would let businesses sue local governments over ordinances that would limit their profits by 15% or more. While there are some exemptions, it’s not clear that these types of ordinances could be passed without the risk of litigation, wasting taxpayer dollars.

What does this mean? It means many local towns — the towns considering passing a sea turtle light pollution ordinance — will think twice before putting themselves and the taxpayers at risk for enormous lawsuits and legal bills.

Add your name to the petition and tell Gov. DeSantis to VETO SB 620. It's the right thing for Florida’s coast and the thousands of sea turtles that depend on our shores for their nesting habitat.