Category Archives: #SaveMiami

Is Florida’s New Governor Ron DeSantis A “Pretend Political Environmentalist”?

Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, Jr.
26th President of the United States (1901-1909)

Following the last eight years of Rick “I am not a climate scientist” Scott’s draconian rein as Governor, many folks are rightfully cautiously optimistic about the environmental news and comments initially coming from Ron DeSantis, Florida’s new elected leader.

Part of the understandable euphoria comes from the mere mention of phrases like “climate change” and “sea level rise” from Governor DeSantis and his staff, phrases that his predecessor effectively outlawed throughout Florida’s government over the last eight years. Hearing these phrases simply uttered offers many of us hope that our fragile state, what with places like South Florida well known the world over as ground zero in the United State’s climate change battle, might just (maybe) see our government begin to address the actual cause of the crisis: fossil fuel use.

Fueling the hope that many are ending the year with is the news just days after his election that the new governor would be seeking $2.5 billion ($625 million per year) towards restoring our precious Everglades. In fact, the esteemed Everglades Foundation touted the news as “the beginning of a new and more hopeful era for the Sunshine State.” Per the governor’s plan, the annual $625 million is expected to be allocated as follows:

  • At least $300 million for Everglades Restoration and the EAA Reservoir project
  • $50 million for springs restoration
  • $50 million for Total Maximum Daily Load projects (TMDLs) to ensure water bodies throughout the state have appropriate nutrient levels
  • $15 million for projects within the St. Johns River, Suwannee River, and Apalachicola River watersheds
  • $10 million for Coral Reef protection and restoration.
  • The remainder of the $625 million will be appropriated for other water quality, alternative water supply, and water conservation projects, including innovative technologies for nutrient reduction and harmful algal bloom prevention and mitigation

You can learn more about the new plan within the governor’s press release on the subject by clicking here.

“Surrounded by water, our state is ground zero for sea-level rise and is leading the country in resiliency efforts with the leadership of Governor DeSantis. This appointment of Dr. Nesheiwat is the first of its kind”

Noah Valenstein
Secretary, Florida Department of  Environmental Protection

In addition to simply uttering phrases like “climate change” out loud (as if that should be remarkable in a place as threatened as South Florida), our new governor has codified the state’s apparent newfound concern over our warming atmosphere and rising seas by announcing the appointment of Dr. Julia Nesheiwat as Florida’s first ever Chief Resilience Officer (CRO). That’s certainly a step in the right direction and encouraging news despite some critics taking issue with Dr. Nesheiwat’s lack of climate/science experience.

One of the things I am most proud of from my work on climate change over the last several years is the small role that I played in demanding that Miami-Dade County begin budgeting money to combat climate change while also appointing its first ever Chief Resilience Officer, my now friend Jim Murley, in 2015 when I was just 14. It’s about time the state got around to recognizing the threat our climate crisis is to Florida’s future and puts someone in charge of the fight, so I welcome this news and appointment. You can read more about Florida’s first CRO by reading the Governor’s press release here.

Many have asked me in recent months how I feel about our new governor’s apparent dedication to the environment and especially our climate crisis. As you can likely tell from the title of this blog, I wonder and worry about whether the steps he’s taking are sincere or is it that he’s simply pretending to care because he’s smart enough to know that it’s good politics (polling routinely shows that Floridians greatly favor protecting the environment) to address these topics? I will certainly take all of the good news I can find but I have to admit something does not “smell” right about at least some of this. Yet,, it’s too early to know why I feel this way.

Perhaps it’s the hyper focus on resiliency, while critically important given the damage rising seas are already doing, that seems to overshadow the lack of any steps or comments to address fossil fuel use or the need to transition towards sustainable transportation and renewable utility power. I am not sure what it is, but something seems to be missing.

“I’m not in the pews of the church of the global warming leftists! I’m a Teddy Roosevelt conservationist.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
On the Campaign Trail in 2018

Or perhaps it’s how he campaigned on these issues. It’s been reported that during the campaign he would speak about the need to restore the Everglades, address algae blooms, and adapt to sea levels that are clearly rising but typically never, if ever, mentioned “climate change.” Or, just maybe, it’s just repulsive and unnecessarily aggressive politically charged comments like he saying “I’m not in the pews of the church of the global warming leftists! I’m a Teddy Roosevelt conservationist” as he told reporters last year.

Speaking of President Roosevelt, our new governor should be careful to not make himself look so silly as to compare himself to the man widely called “The Conservation President.” Consider that Roosevelt is commonly considered the most important environmentally oriented leader the United States has ever had and that during his time in office his lasting, impressive accomplishments included:

  • Establishing 230 million acres of land as public land
  • Creating 150 National Forests
  • Creating 5 National Parks (Crater Lake in Oregon, Wind Cave in South Dakota, Sullys Hill in North Dakota that later became a game preserve, Mesa Verde in Colorado, and Platt in Oklahoma that is today part of Chickasaw National Recreation Area)
  • Enacted the Antiquities Act of June 8, 1906, that allowed he and future Presidents to proclaim historic landmarks, historic or prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest in federal ownership as national monuments
  • Designating America’s first 18 National Monuments
  • Establishing 35 Bird Preservation Habitats starting with Pelican Island, a small island in the Indian Lagoon near Sebastian, Florida
  • Creating the U.S. Forest Service

Well, the seemingly good news of late aside, here’s hoping Ron DeSantis proves to be a real environmentalist and not just a pretend political one.

#AlwaysBelieve, #BeInconvenient, #MyOceanPledge, #SaveMiami, Climate Change, Delaney Reynolds, Eco Warrior, Global Warming, Miami, Miamisearise.com, Noah Valenstein, Politics, Sea Level Rise, Sea Rise, Teddy Roosevelt, The Sink or Swim Project

Can the Florida Keys be Saved from Sea Level Rise?

IMG_5835

After a glorious week here on No Name Key in the beautiful Florida Keys, I’m heading home and wondering whether the key deer and the other inhabitants, animals and humans of Monroe County will be able to live here towards the end of my life.

Much of the Keys sit at, near or even below current sea levels and over the last 10 or so years have increasingly been subjected to extensive flooding that will soon become more and more routine. It’s been well publicized that some communities in Key Largo, for example, have suffered flooding for nearly three months straight. News that the streets and bars in Key West are flooding have become commonplace. And, sadly, the problem is only going to get worse.

As I have noted in previous blogs, scientists predict that the number of “sunny day flooding” events will increase from the current 6 times per year to an estimated 80 times per year by 2030 and to 380 times per year by 2045, thus more than once a day as high and low tides fluctuate twice per day.

“If we asked for what we actually needed, we’d be in the billions of dollars.”
Helene Wetherington, Monroe County Head of Disaster Recovery

It’s no wonder that the leaders of Monroe County have asked the State of Florida Department of Economic Opportunity for 150 million dollars to begin to address the problem: money that would be used to start to raise all sorts of things, such as roads. And while 150 million dollars sounds like an enormous sum of money, mitigating the problem will likely cost “billions” so says Helene Wetherington the Head of Disaster Recovery for Monroe County. You can read about Monroe County’s request and their perspective on this growing problem by clicking here.

And while I am headed back to Miami to finish this semester’s exams, I can’t help but wonder why Florida’s leaders or, for that matter, America’s are not doing more to rid our society of the fossil fuels that are contributing to so much of our climate crisis. Whether it’s hundreds of millions, billions or even trillions of dollars that must be spent to try and save some semblance of our current way of life here in South Florida, it would be so much less expensive if we would just get serious about solving the core problem before it’s too late.

#AlwaysBelieve, #BeInconvenient, #MyOceanPledge, #RatherBeInCourt, #SaveMiami, Climate Change, Delaney Reynolds, Eco Warrior, Global Warming, Key Deer, Miami, Miamisearise.com, No Name Key, Politics, Sea Level Rise, Sea Rise, The Sink or Swim Project

Giving Thanks

I suppose as a college student on her Thanksgiving holiday break I could be excused for wanting to sleep in a bit late today. Catch up on the “Z’s”, rest and all of that.

And, yet, I woke up just after 5:00 AM today and sure am thankful that I could not go back to sleep.

No Name Key was cool and quiet in the pre-dawn darkness. With a cup of coffee and my phone in hand I enjoyed the early morning from our back porch overlooking the mirror-like calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico as the sun’s first light edged above the horizon. And what a sunrise it was! Filled with bright red, orange and yellow pasted against the black, blue and purple of the eroding night sky above and water below. No matter the reason for waking so early, I am most certainly thankful to have witnessed today’s Thanksgiving sunrise.

And I am thankful for the peace and quiet here on No Name. There are many reasons to protect places like No Name, a Federal wildlife refuge, and to keep them different from the developed places that increasingly surround us and the quiet is one of them. The frequent silence here is incredible and as dawn broke, it was only interrupted by the sound of the breeze blowing through the palm, mahogany and mangrove tree leaves. Literally not one other sound but the breeze blowing through the trees for nearly an hour.

I am also thankful to have seen No Name’s nature vividly come alive right before my eyes as that sun crept even higher. The first sign of life was a Key Deer walking quietly along the peninsula that is part of our property. My view was her reflection in the still water through a window-like opening in the mangrove trees. No sooner than I saw her reflection I could see the rest of her family, a buck and a doe, farther up the peninsula where they had spent the night under a star filled sky. I sure am thankful that we have laws protecting animals such as the Key Deer and the places that they live in like No Name.

As those deer disappeared in the distance I began to hear the unmistakable sound of a bird’s claws walking on the porch’s metal roof above me. I’ve heard that “tip-tap” many times before and knew it was the turkey vulture that so often is perched there so as to keep watch over the land below and anything that might move along it that qualifies as prey. Not long after hearing his claw steps he was airborne right in front of me, swooping back and forth perhaps 20 feet away. It was an incredible sight, his flight one way and back the other, but also an equally incredible sound as each turn led to a deep audible “swooping” as his wings caught the air while turning in the opposite direction. To have dawn’s silence broken by the sound of his flight, much less to see it up close, was a humbling reminder of nature’s perfection.

And perfectly fitting for a Thanksgiving morning is what led that bird to so elegantly swing back and forth; his unmistakable hunt for food. As the sun light became brighter I could see that the turkey vulture had spied his morning meal: a dead raccoon floating at the water’s edge under the mangrove branches.

It was a remarkable sight, the type of thing one could never fully experience buried in our phone or computer-driven virtual worlds. And as that thought sank in, another turkey vulture joined the meal. And then another and another and another yet again. By then the birds had dragged their meal up the bank and onto land to enjoy their feast together in a circle of life display that was simply perfect on Thanksgiving.

And that’s when the American alligator showed up to begin its Thanksgiving.

No Name is filled with many magical creatures including the American crocodile and its “cousin” the American alligator. This one in particular is a juvenile, about 4 feet long, and lives under our mangroves on the peninsula. I see it virtually every day in the early morning light and just before dark as it patrols the waters next to our home in search of food. And this morning it found a bounty worthy, well, of Thanksgiving. The turkey vultures, as numerous as they now were, did not have a chance against the young gator as she crawled up the bank and pulled what was now her meal into the murky water as you can see in the video below.

So many things to be thankful for again this year, and that starts with our amazing natural environment. From the peace and lively nature that is No Name Key, from my family and me, to you and yours, here’s to hoping that your Thanksgiving is filled with friends and family. Happy Thanksgiving.

#AlwaysBelieve, #BeInconvenient, #MyOceanPledge, #RatherBeInCourt, #SaveMiami, American Alligator, Climate Change, Delaney Reynolds, Eco Warrior, Global Warming, Happy Thanksgiving, Miami, Miamisearise.com, No Name Key, Politics, Raccoon, Sea Level Rise, Sea Rise, Thanksgiving, The Sink or Swim Project, Turkey Vulture
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