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It was around this time nine years ago when then-Gov. Rick Scott’s administration was accused of effectively muzzling state officials when it came to the climate crisis. The Miami Herald reported at the time that officials at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection claimed they were ordered not to use the terms “climate change” or “global warming” in any official communications.
Nearly a decade later, the Florida Republican has been elevated to the Senate, and his successor in the governor’s office is going even further in an anti-climate direction. 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.
It might seem like ancient history, but in 2008, then-Gov. Charlie Crist — at the time a Republican — signed a bill to address climate change and promote renewable energy. It passed the state legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support, at a time when some in the GOP were willing to acknowledge the realities of the climate emergency.
Sixteen years later, DeSantis hasn’t just undone that work, he and Republican legislators have gone even further to bury their heads in the sand. A New York Times report summarized some of the key elements of the measure DeSantis signed, noting that the new law, among other things:
For good measure, the AP’s report noted that DeSantis also weakened safeguards on gas pipelines.
The far-right governor characterized the regressive move as “restoring sanity,” which is only true if one believes it’s “sane” to pretend the climate crisis doesn’t exist.
To be sure, such radicalism would be indefensible in any state, but the fact that this is happening in Florida makes it all the more bonkers.
As the Times’ report added, the Sunshine State, “is one of the states most vulnerable to the costly and deadly impacts of climate change.” The article went on to note that 2023 “was the hottest in Florida since 1895, and the waters off its coast heated to 90 degrees during the summer, bleaching corals and scorching marine life.”
Even if Republicans decided not to care, flooding and extreme weather events are pushing major insurers out of Florida altogether, which has dramatic ripple effects on the state’s real estate market and broader economy.
DeSantis and his party are aware of these problems, and they’re responding by taking deliberate steps to make matters worse.
Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics.”
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