Gov Ron DeSantis, Republican of Florida, signed legislation in May that effectively deletes the urgency of climate change from state law, The Washington Post reported.
The legislation I signed today—HB 1645, HB 7071, and HB 1331—will keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and China out of our state.
We’re restoring sanity in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of the radical green zealots.
Furthermore, we’re going to… pic.twitter.com/G13RcdxIBR
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 15, 2024
“The law restructures Florida’s energy policy so that climate change and addressing planet-warming pollution no longer are priorities, and instead, the priorities now are reducing reliance on foreign energy sources and strengthening the energy infrastructure here against, as the measure says, natural and manmade threats,” Amy Green, the Florida correspondent for Inside Climate News told NPR.
Meteorologists, including on-air forecasters, have not reacted well. Florida is, after all, one of the states most affected by climate change. Hurricanes, flooding, and intense heat are damaging the ocean, the lakes, the beaches, the sea life, and the coral reefs; insurance rates are climbing and putting some beachfront communities at risk. One meteorologist, Steve MacLaughlin, posted his complaint on his X account:
“Don’t Say Climate Change!” As Florida is on fire, underwater, and unaffordable, our state government is rolling back climate change legislation and language. #nbc6 #climateincrisis @nbc6 @CLEOInstitute @ClimateCentral pic.twitter.com/HDMBhylVFE
— Steve MacLaughlin (@SteveMacNBC6) May 19, 2024
The law effectively nullifies any state law or policy that would move the state toward clean-energy alternatives. Industry in Florida will no longer be “intentional about transitioning toward cleaner energy, things like wind and solar,” Ms Green said.
The new law also bans the building of windmills within a mile of the coastline. Of course, no windmills are planned there, simply because the breezes in Florida are unreliable. The windmills would be still so often as to make the cost of building them in the first place illogical. So, that aspect of the law is a non-starter. But the “radical green zealots” Mr DeSantis refers to? They aren’t exactly tree huggers; they’re real people, like Mr MacLaughlin, whose lives are being torn down by climate change.
Editorial
The state should be moving toward legislation, such as the laws this new law cancels, that lets the state deal more effectively with the effects of climate change.
“Out in the real world, citizens are dealing with devastating impacts as our climate heats up and gets more volatile,” The Florida Phoenix quoted Bradley Marshall, who works on climate for the Florida office of Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law firm, as saying. “Heat is killing our reefs, our creatures, and even our citizens. State leaders should be doing all they can to protect and prepare us.”
