{"id":9642,"date":"2024-05-21T07:01:39","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T11:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?p=9642"},"modified":"2024-05-22T23:05:07","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T03:05:07","slug":"floridas-solves-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2024\/05\/21\/floridas-solves-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Solves Climate Change!"},"content":{"rendered":"

G<\/span>ood news America! Florida has solved climate change. Not be reducing greenhouse gases, championing renewable energy, and moving to electric vehicles.<\/p>\n

Of course not. That would strain credulity.<\/p>\n

They got rid of climate change by simply legislating it away. <\/p>\n

Last week \u2013 on Wednesday, May 15 \u2013 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation<\/a> that essentially scrubs \u201cclimate change\u201d from state law, policy, and practice. It\u2019s the Florida version of that ancient Japanese proverb “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”\u00a0\u2013 substituting \u201cclimate change\u201d for \u201cevil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida lawmakers have just said NO!<\/p>\n

No to science<\/a>, no to climate change impacts<\/a>, no to record-breaking temperatures<\/a>, no to its outdoor workers<\/a> who labor in extreme heat, no to the majority of its citizens who believe<\/a> that climate change is happening, and no to common sense solutions<\/a> like clean renewable energy.<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s New Law Is Nonsensical \u2013 And Dangerous<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The new law is a head-scratcher as Florida is one of the U.S. states most vulnerable to climate change. \u00a0On the same day that Governor DeSantis signed the bill into law, Key West recorded a heat index of 114.4\u00b0F — a new record! \u00a0And last year was Florida\u2019s hottest year since 1895.<\/p>\n

On the same day that Governor DeSantis signed the bill into law, Key West recorded a heat index of 114.4\u00b0F — a new record! \u00a0And last year was Florida\u2019s hottest year since 1895.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Florida Climate Center<\/a> details the state\u2019s troubling trends in temperature, precipitation, and hurricanes. In 2023, Hurricane Idalia<\/a> alone caused $3.6 billion (yes, BILLION) in damages, with 12 deaths attributed to the storm.\u00a0 Florida even got special mention in the United Nations\u2019 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2022 report<\/a>; it noted the state\u2019s 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<\/a> for quick read). Florida homeowners are already paying some of the highest premiums in the country, more than\u00a0four times the national average for home insurance (see here<\/a>, here<\/a>).\u00a0 That\u2019s taking quite a bite out of workers\u2019 paychecks.<\/p>\n

Despite all this, the Governor and Florida state lawmakers kept their proverbial heads in the sand by enacting a new law that:<\/p>\n