Climate Change Won’t Stop On Its Own

In the last few decades, our planet’s climate has been changing and it doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. There are many factors that cause these changes, but the most prevalent one is the human factor.

Climate change has a wide range of effects on the planet that puts millions of people at risk due to the sea level and oceans’ temperatures rising and increasingly powerful and destructive storms. No place knows the damaging effects that climate change will have better than Florida.

Due to Florida’s location and geography, it is at high risk, mainly because of its vulnerability to the rising of sea levels. The majority of Florida is at a low elevation, particularly South Florida, which is only about three to six feet above sea level on average. Because of this, research has shown us that if the sea level continues to increase, areas in Monroe and Miami-Dade counties could be submerged in water in the coming decades.

Even with proof from the scientific and environmentalist communities of the damage that climate change is going to inflict on our communities, our leaders in Tallahassee have done nothing to help combat the problem. The dreadful record of Governor Rick Scott’s administration includes their gutting of our state’s hallmark environmental and conservation programs, such as Florida Forever, which was set up during Gov. Jeb Bush’s administration with a starting budget of $300 million. Last year, it was cut back to about $10 million.

Scott has also cut the budget of the of Florida Department of Environmental Protection. During his eight years in office, the department’s budget has been cut from about 2 billion to a little more than 1.4 billion in 2018. Scott has also rolled back many environmental regulations, and, in 2016, signed a law into effect that weakened the standards on the amount of toxic chemicals that can be dumped into our rivers and lakes, according to the Miami Herald.

But luckily, with the election later this year, Floridians have the opportunity to help change what Scott did to our state’s environment.

“I believe the pollution in the water is a reflection of the pollution in Tallahassee,” said Heath Rassner, a candidate for the Florida House. “Our environmental problems are a result of politicians’ unwillingness to prioritize real solutions over ideology and personal agendas.”