Cost to the Environment = Damage to the Florida Everglades
The Florida Everglades are a unique and precious ecosystem, but they have been severely degraded over time. Sugar production has repeatedly been identified as a contributor to pollution and ecosystem damage, and the State of Florida has attempted to buy large tracts of land and take them out of sugar production. While that deal has been delayed and mired in controversy, what is clear is that efforts to genuinely restore the Everglades will involve very substantial taxpayer costs.
Learn more about how the U.S. sugar program impacts the environment here.