Ricks of the Scott variety shared the stage with Ricks of the Kriseman variety and so on.
That was nice.
Now, as the analysis sets in, and we're once again asking questions about whether kicking our fossil fuel habit can slow the warming of our oceans (and thus their possible role in the churning out of record-shattering storms), politics have returned.
On Thursday, Governor Rick Scott again reiterated that he is not sure whether humans have a role in climate change.
Scott's comments, per Politico:
“Clearly our environment changes all the time, and whether that’s cycles we’re going through or whether that’s man-made, I wouldn’t be able to tell you which one it is…But I can tell you this: We ought to go solve problems. I know we have beach renourishment issues. I know we have flood-mitigation issues.”
He also said perhaps we should wait until everyone has their power on before talking about humans' role in a phenomenon that a vast consensus among scientists seems to suggest is a) happening and b) caused by humans.
Naturally, environmental groups responded.
Here's what Manley Fuller, president of the Florida Wildlife Federation, had to say via an emailed statement:
“Storms and sea level rise combine to make clear that we need to acquire large areas of low-lying, flood-prone areas as greenways and storm buffers. We also need to remove publicly funded incentives that encourage development along our waterways. We need to encourage stronger building practices further away from the water. These practices would be safer, save vast amounts of tax money in the long run, and would provide more fish and wildlife habitat and public recreation areas."
Fuller added that the idea of mitigating the impacts of encroaching waters on coastal areas originated during the Reagan era, and called for strengthening of coastal protections enacted then.
"The Coastal Barrier Resources System has saved American taxpayers billions since it was passed almost unanimously by Congress and signed into law by President Reagan by keeping sensitive coastal lands from being developed. It includes over 700,000 lowland and coastal acres in Florida which are ineligible for federal flood insurance and other federal subsidies," Fuller said. "The chief authors of the CBRA system legislation were Congressman Tom Evans and Senator John Chaffee. Tom Evans now serves on Florida Wildlife Federation's Board of Directors. It is time for Congress to expand the CBRA concept to other flood prone areas and to phase out incentives which place ever more people and property in harm's way. Future development should move further from the water, and public policy should align with that goal to promote climate resiliency.”
In other words, enough with the politics!
This article appears in Sep 14-21, 2017.