Three of the five climate scientists who met with Rick Scott this summer to discuss the deleterious effects that global warming is already having on Florida discussed that conversation and their thoughts about how to stem climate change at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg on Monday, and one thing became clear early on — these professors deal with science, not politics.
"There's no debate amongst climate scientists that it's 100 percent due to human activities," said Ben Kirtman, professor of atmospheric science from the University of Miami. "I can't even figure out why this is a political football."
"Scott can really make a difference," said David Hastings, a professor of marine science and chemistry at Eckerd. "He can enact changes that can really turn things around." He described the sit-down with the governor as a frustrating experience, considering that only a half hour was blocked out for the discussion, yet half of that time was spent exchanging pleasantries regarding each professor's academic background. And he said that the governor bailed out two minutes early. "I should be more realistic about what my expectations were," Hastings reflected.
The 45-minute discussion kicked off the first part of the Climate Science & Solutions Summit, an event organized by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Speakers included scientists, elected officials, environmentalists and businesspeople making a living in solar power.
Scott has had very little to say since his confab with the climate scientists, leading some analysts to ponder whether he met with them in the first place only after his Democratic gubernatorial rival, Charlie Crist, did so back in July. While running against Alex Sink in 2010, Scott said that he had “not been convinced that there’s any man-made climate change.”
Gary Mitchum, a professor of physical oceanography and the associate dean of research at the College of Marine Science at USF, said that policy-makers are driven by the public and there's still a large portion of the public that remains skeptical about man-made climate change. He also said that scientists must engage more with economists, because he says currently they only think about the costs of mitigating issues like sea level rise, and not the risks involved with not acting.
Professor Kirtman agreed, saying it's important for scientists to engage in discussions with both believers and skeptics. But he said it was important to talk about climate change and not sea level rise, since there are a considerable number of Floridians who don't live near flood zones and thus could believe that it's not a problem for them to worry about.
The scientists were later asked by moderator Rob Lorei from WMNF radio about the intensity of climate change skeptics or deniers, and the power they have via the Internet. "What was true is now perverted," Professor Hastings complained. But others said that fellow scientists can be quite critical, too, in reviewing their peers. "We're tough on each other," said Kirtman.
Florida must reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by 38 percent by 2030 under new Environmental Protection Agency rules. Governor Scott has until Oct. 15 to comment on the rules. A plan must be in place within two years.
Florida State University professor Jeff Chanton said that the way to address climate change in Florida now is through mitigation and adoption. "The more we do with mitigation, if we start to mitigate now, the adaption will be less. We have to do both."
Profesor Kirtman said there's a certain amount of warming that "we have already committed to," and put that between 15 and 30 years out. Professor Hastings said too much of the environmental community has a "doom and gloom" outlook on the future.
"Yes, things are bad," he admitted, but compared the damage now to a fender-bender, not a 60-mile-per-hour crash, if policy-makers and the public can become committed to reversing course.
How that might happen was taken up over the remainder of the afternoon, with those in the clean energy industry discussing what is happening (not so much in Florida) on the solar energy front, in particular. The afternoon concluded with elected officials and members of the public discussing realistic solutions.
Speakers were supposed to be limited to one minute, but tell that to a politician. House District 66 Democrat Dwight Dudley kicked off this coda to the afternoon, and fulminated on the failures of the Florida Legislature to deal with climate change and energy efficiency.
“I can tell you that the Florida Legislature is a desert and a stonewall, a blockade, I mean, I don’t know what else to call it," he began. “But I can tell you the leaders have not led there….of course 30 days, or 5 weeks before an election we have this whole bandwagon group of folks saying that they're all of a sudden interested in repealing the utility tax," referring to the issue of nuclear cost recovery, which until recently only Democrats like Dudley had addressed in the Legislature. "Of course, you know that energy policy goes far beyond that. It goes to renewables and alternatives."
Dudley denounced the power companies for their recalcitrance in embracing solar power. "It's ridiculous and asinine. I mean are they going to outlaw the chopping of firewood?"
CL will be writing more about some of the other players at yesterday's event in an upcoming story.
This article appears in Oct 2-8, 2014.