Florida environment group calls on Pam Bondi to cut crap, drop Obama carbon lawsuit

When the Obama Administration announced its rather ambitious goal of cutting carbon emissions that stem from power plants, environmental groups were elated.



After all, while there's no way to stop climate change in its tracks, let alone reverse what has already happened, but the thought is that curbing the amount of carbon dioxide we pump into the air will at least ease the hazardous changes that are occurring, and will continue to do so.






“Today marks the end of an era for dirty power plants that have spewed dangerous pollution into our air without limits for too long," Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said the day details of the Clean Power Plan were released last August. "It signifies a new era of growth for affordable and safe clean energy sources that don’t fuel climate disruption and sicken our communities. 



The plan aims to, as Scientific American   put it , "cut carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired electric power plants by 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030."



As one may expect, climate change deniers occupying public office in states that include Florida detest the new rules, which would be incredibly burdensome on the utility companies that sign large campaign checks for them every once in a while.



Florida, in fact, is one of 24 states suing the Obama Administration over the new rules.



Thursday morning, environmental leaders in Florida urged Republican State Attorney General Pam Bondi to stop playing politics and start preparing Florida for climate change's impacts, some of which are already starting to cause havoc in Florida.



“We believe it's time for Florida's leaders to stand up and face the challenge head-on,” said Damien Filer, political director of the group Progress Florida.



Filer and others said Bondi's lawsuit was life-threatening since altered atmospheric patterns can impact frequency and intensity of storms, and detrimental to Florida's economy, given that an estimated three-to-four feet hike in sea level by 2100 could put "nearly $346 billion of Florida property is at risk."



Although the scientific community sees a sweeping consensus that, yes, climate change and its impacts (sea-level rise, ocean acidification, invasive species) are real, and even some Republicans are calling on their colleagues to see the light, it's not bloody likely that Bondi or Governor Rick Scott will change gears on climate.



After all, it's that administration that banned state employees from using phrases like "climate change" and "sea-level rise" way back in 2011 .



How lovely.