FL GOP 2015 - Global Warming Hoax! FL GOP 2021 - Too Expensive To Do Anything About Global Warming
A few years ago, Republican lawmakers were averse to publicly acknowledging climate change, outside of rising sea levels affecting some coastal South Florida communities. Now, as many lawmakers accept the science and back the need to develop a statewide plan to address the impacts of rising sea levels, hurricanes and flooding on a predominantly flat state, questions focus on a debt-adding $1 billion resiliency program pitched by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Environmentalists would like DeSantis to go further, to also address the causes of climate change rather than just the effects. Meanwhile, Republican legislators with a tight grasp on the state’s purse strings have yet to fully embrace DeSantis’ proposed four-year “Resilient Florida” plan as the 60-day legislative session prepares to begin March 2.
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But the proposal came as lawmakers grapple with a budget shortfall caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, while DeSantis maintains a rosier outlook on the economy. And incurring long-term debt through bonding — as DeSantis proposes for Resilient Florida — is a big issue for Republicans who consider themselves fiscal conservatives. Rep. Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, would like House staff members to determine if existing dollars are available to cover the resiliency program. “Perhaps before we go and secure debt, can we find the revenues?” McClure asked of DeSantis’ bonding proposals. “Obviously, we're facing budget challenges in the wake of the last year, and certainly even before that with storms and other events. So, I'm a little curious, and quite frankly, marginally concerned about taking on a debt load, no matter the interest rate, when maybe we don't fully understand the entire budget forecast.”
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Admitting he’s “just beginning to understand fully the intent of the resiliency project,” Rep. Rick Roth, R-West Palm Beach, was among those with questions about the approach being taken by DeSantis’ Department of Environmental Protection. “It says that the program will fund the incremental costs required to deal with sea level rise, which is I think what everybody was assuming,” Roth said. “But when I read all these implementation projects, it doesn't just immediately jump out at me that these projects are dealing with sea level rise. For example, public facilities used for emergency response and management. That could even be a coastal structure for discharge of rainfall by the water management district, where they're having to retrofit that project.”
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https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/2021/02/24/florida-republican-lawmakers-question-debt-governors-resiliency-program-climate-change-politics/4574989001/
