Good news America! Florida has solved climate change. Not be reducing greenhouse gases, championing renewable energy, and moving to electric vehicles.
Of course not. That would strain credulity.
They got rid of climate change by simply legislating it away.
Last week – on Wednesday, May 15 – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that essentially scrubs “climate change” from state law, policy, and practice. It’s the Florida version of that ancient Japanese proverb “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” – substituting “climate change” for “evil.”
Florida lawmakers have just said NO!
No to science, no to climate change impacts, no to record-breaking temperatures, no to its outdoor workers who labor in extreme heat, no to the majority of its citizens who believe that climate change is happening, and no to common sense solutions like clean renewable energy.
Florida’s New Law Is Nonsensical – And Dangerous
The new law is a head-scratcher as Florida is one of the U.S. states most vulnerable to climate change. On the same day that Governor DeSantis signed the bill into law, Key West recorded a heat index of 114.4°F — a new record! And last year was Florida’s hottest year since 1895.
On the same day that Governor DeSantis signed the bill into law, Key West recorded a heat index of 114.4°F — a new record! And last year was Florida’s hottest year since 1895.
The Florida Climate Center details the state’s troubling trends in temperature, precipitation, and hurricanes. In 2023, Hurricane Idalia alone caused $3.6 billion (yes, BILLION) in damages, with 12 deaths attributed to the storm. Florida even got special mention in the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2022 report; it noted the state’s existing and worsening future impacts and costly economic consequences related to sea level rise, tidal flooding, bleached and dying coral reefs, harmful algal blooms, and the likelihood of wholesale community displacement (see here for quick read). Florida homeowners are already paying some of the highest premiums in the country, more than four times the national average for home insurance (see here, here). That’s taking quite a bite out of workers’ paychecks.
Despite all this, the Governor and Florida state lawmakers kept their proverbial heads in the sand by enacting a new law that:
- Removes any mention of climate change in its legislative language and findings,
- Prohibits the construction, operation, or expansion of certain wind energy facilities and wind turbines,
- Repeals state grant programs that encourage energy conservation and renewable energy – specifically repealing the Renewable Energy and Energy-Efficient Technologies Grant Program, Florida Green Government Grants, the Energy Economic Zone Pilot Program, and Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds provisions,
- Prohibits municipalities, community development districts, and homeowners’ associations from prohibiting certain types or fuel sources of energy production and appliances that use such fuels (i.e, natural gas, which provides the bulk of the state’s energy generation),
- Deletes requirements that state agencies use climate-friendly products and purchases, e.g., fuel-efficient vehicles.
The Governor is mighty proud of these accomplishments, tweeting @GovRonDeSantis that the lawmakers are “restoring sanity in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of the radical green zealots.”
Baby, It’s Hot Outside
Florida is heating up in more ways than one. Beyond erasing climate change from their legislative vocabularies and policies, state lawmakers have also taken a nonsensical and potentially fatal stand on heat – targeting their outdoor workers. In March, Florida legislators passed a law banning local governments from implementing workplace heat standards. Again, they just said NO. No to giving construction and agricultural workers access to water and 10-minute breaks in the shade every two hours on days when the heat index hits 90 degrees.
In March, Florida legislators passed a law banning local governments from implementing workplace heat standards. Again, they just said NO. No to giving construction and agricultural workers access to water and 10-minute breaks in the shade every two hours on days when the heat index hits 90 degrees.
More than unsafe, short-sighted, and counterproductive, that’s not just mean; it’s deadly.
Who’s the Real Zealot?
If recognizing climate change, prioritizing clean energy, and protecting outdoor workers is radical and insane, then Governor DeSantis and Florida legislators take the cake. And it’s the workers and residents who get the crumbs and suffer the physical and economic consequences of their policy makers’ zealotry.
(OK, I know there’s stiff competition out there with Texas and Governor Abbott.)
It’s only mid-May, with months of dangerous heat ahead for Florida. As a confirmed zealot myself — for worker safety and public health — I shudder at the toll these misguided policies will take.
With cooler weather (and the voting booth) months away, Florida residents and workers will have to rely on their own common sense – and hopefully their electoral power — to keep themselves safe and healthy.
Because passing laws that deny reality is not (usually) a winning ticket.