Turtle Crossing Stimulus Project Not Shovel Ready. As a Result, Many Turtles Are.

Katherine Mangu-Ward | June 16, 2009

The office of Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) released a report [PDF] today highlighting 100 questionable projects in the stimulus bill.

My personal favorite, largely for the metaphor potential regarding the rate of stimulus spending, is number five: a turtle crossing in Florida. The "eco-passage" is an oldie but a goodie, this one clocking in at $3.4 million and counting in stimulus funds. Here's a fun fact from the report:

The area has the highest road-kill mortality rate for turtles in the world.

But unlike many a neglected pet turtle, the project isn't even "shovel ready." It's still in the design phase, according to Coburn's report. So stimulus or no, the turtle genocide continues.

Reason has been all over another one of Coburn's top ten—the John Murtha-Johnstown Cambria County Airport.

Read the whole thing here [PDF].