Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed legislation that reduces the priority of climate change, removes the term “climate change” from state statutes and prohibits the installation of power-generating wind turbines offshore or near Florida’s extensive coastline.
The governor’s office has also announced plans to accelerate the growth of natural gas, ease restrictions on state gas pipelines and enhance safeguards against prohibitions on gas-powered appliances starting July 1.
After DeSantis’ post on “X,” formerly known as Twitter, supporters of the bill and climate change advocates started to express their opinions. Many of them argued that the legislation approved by the former Republican presidential candidate fails to acknowledge the real dangers of climate change in Florida, including sea level rises, extreme heat, flooding and severe storms.
Todd Crowl, the FIU’s Institute of Environment Executive Director, explains the possible long-term problems.
“This political rhetoric going back and forth saying we’re not going to talk about climate change, we are not going to talk about carbon dioxide, we are not going to worry about what source of energy comes from,” said Crowl. “That’s a long-term problem, right? Because if we don’t get smarter, if we don’t be more efficient, and if we do not stop burning fossil fuels, then we are never going to mitigate carbon dioxide.”
