Shocked, Shocked: DeSantis' "Environmentalist" Act Turned Out To Be More Green GOP Bullshit
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Exhibit A: It took four months for a much-anticipated report on Florida climate resilience to see the light of day. The report was submitted in early January by Julia Nesheiwat, the state's first and only chief resilience officer. She left the office weeks later to become President Trump's homeland security adviser. The office remains vacant.
Exhibit B: The governor made early gestures to move Florida toward clean energy. A year later, the state's Sierra Club gave DeSantis an F for follow-up. Others say DeSantis has slow-walked the expansion of renewables as electric utilities maintain the status quo. The most recent state greenhouse gas inventory is 12 years old, while renewable energy accounts for just 3% of the state's total output.
Exhibit C: There appears to be no movement toward a comprehensive statewide climate assessment, even as DeSantis — who broke the previous administration's ban on the words "climate change" — acknowledges imminent threats from hurricanes, flooding and sea-level rise. He made a brief reference to flood-prone areas in his January State of the State address but made no reference to climate change.
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Nesheiwat, who spent much of her first six months meeting with front-line municipalities, made clear Florida lags in resilience and adaptation efforts. She said Florida communities were "overwhelmed and need one place to turn for guidance" and that state-level resilience efforts "were siloed, leaving some behind." The governor's response? Crickets.
A spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection said the chief resilience officer's responsibilities were temporarily handed to DEP Secretary Noah Valenstein, a holdover from the Scott administration. The spokeswoman failed to follow up with additional information about the report or when the CRO vacancy would be filled. The office's website contains no information, only a dead link to a "Chief Resilience Officer Application." Webber said Nesheiwat's short tenure and unceremonious departure make it harder for DeSantis to live up to his early promises, especially with the resilience officer position unfilled.
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https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2020/05/19/stories/1063171577
