It was all very down-home and very…1950s — as though Florida wasn't one of the most diverse and populous states in the country, one where if you were to look at a cross-section of its population or its physical landscape, would look almost nothing like Bartow. That is, save for the entire state's undeniable dependence on clean air and water, which sustains Florida's tourism economy and the health of the population itself.
Amid Putnam's utterances of "Florida first" his desire to make Florida "the launchpad for the American dream," both common refrains, there was no overt message about protecting Florida's natural environment. There was just a subtle (if you can call it that) reference to "natural resources," his brief remarks about which follow here in full, pulled from WMNF Community Radio's Facebook Live stream of the announcement:
“We are some of the luckiest people in the world. Not only are Americans, but we call Florida home. And it's our job to keep it special. It's our job to work together to make Florida even better. To protect our precious resources that make Florida Florida. To leave a state to our children and our grandchildren that is stronger than the one that we get to live in right now.”
So…that's pretty much it.
Does that mean a guy who is likely to be the next governor (his being a monied Republican and all) of a flat state surrounded on three sides by water doesn't have the guts — or worse, the willingness to listen to scientists — to suggest that perhaps we ought to be looking for ways to confront sea-level rise? Or corporate polluter-friendly rollbacks of clean air and water protections at the federal level? Or the release of toxic Lake O water onto the coasts, where millions of tourists pay good money to spend their vacations? Probably.
Not that we'd expect someone like Putnam to go against his corporate benefactors, what with the likelihood that he'll be primaried from the right by the next Rick Scott. And that if he does make it out of the primary, he won't have to do much to win, since apparently old Republicans and right-leaning Independents are the only ones who vote in non-presidential elections.
But, come on.
Protecting the environment should never be political, and those politicians who avoid the issue probably do so because they're either clueless about how important it is to all of us, or they've sold their souls.
Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, was one of the most important conservationists in history.
Richard Nixon signed off on the Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.
Everyone needs clean air, clean water, clean soil, and the biodiversity those things foster. And, again, lots of people pay money to either visit or live here specifically because of those things.
Yes, even the phosphate, construction, sugar and oil and gas industry execs that are probably large contributors to Putnam's campaign and associated PACs and SuperPACs rely on them — and so, too, will their descendants.
This article appears in May 4-11, 2017.