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Massive flooding in Florida is bringing new attention to the climate change denial of Gov. Ron DeSantis and his Republican allies in the state Legislature.
In May, DeSantis took steps to deprioritize climate change resilience, a truly reckless and cruel decision considering the existential crisis climate change poses to the state.
As The Associated Press reported:
Climate change will be a lesser priority in Florida and largely disappear from state statutes under legislation signed Wednesday by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that also bans power-generating wind turbines offshore or near the state’s lengthy coastline. Critics said the measure made law by the former Republican presidential hopeful ignores the reality of climate change threats in Florida, including projections of rising seas, extreme heat and flooding, and increasingly severe storms.
Those critics — including Democrats, climate-conscious activist groups, and climate experts — were right that DeSantis’ support for such a policy defied logic and the abundant evidence of climate-related devastation in Florida. And they’re reminding him of this as much of the state suffers.
Florida Democrats used the current flooding in Florida to highlight DeSantis’ neglectful approach to climate resilience, and to highlight the fact that the governor on Wednesday signed a budget that vetoed more than $200 million in funding for projects related to stormwater, wastewater and sewer water.
“Flood warnings are in effect for more than 8 million Floridians and Ron just vetoed funding for stormwater projects to reserve money for a rainy day,” the Florida Democratic Party posted on social media. “Ron, it’s raining.”
Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones criticized DeSantis’ climate approach and said the impact of flooding and other climate disasters is felt most by vulnerable communities.
“Florida refuses to acknowledge ‘climate change,’ despite streets turning into rivers and @GovRonDeSantis vetoing crucial infrastructure projects in vulnerable communities,” he wrote.
Elijah Manley, a Florida Democrat who wrote about losing his former home to flooding for the Daily Beast last year, hit Florida’s conservative lawmakers with some scathing sarcasm.
“It’s a good thing Florida’s lawmakers are [taking] bold action to combat climate change and sea level rising instead of culture wars and bigotry innit,” he wrote.
What we’re seeing in Florida is the — no pun intended — downstream impact of giving arrogant and/or willfully ignorant ideologues power. DeSantis is one example — but remember: He’s not alone in the Republican Party. After all, Donald Trump, a Floridian in his own right, suggested last week that the only consequence of rising sea levels would be more beachfront property.
With much of Florida underwater now, it’s glaringly apparent he had no clue what he was talking about.