10 Years Late, FL Senate Cmte Discusses Global Warming; FL GOP utters words "Sea Level Rise"

[hatrack]

For the first time in a decade, a Florida Senate committee scheduled a meeting Monday to discuss the impact of climate change on the peninsula state. What did senators learn? “We lost a decade,’’ said Sen. Tom Lee, the Thonotosassa Republican who chairs the Committee on Infrastructure and Security. He began the 90-minute hearing with three words that have not come from the lips of a Republican state senator in years: “Sea level rise.”

“There hasn’t been a lot of conversation about this. I understand that, and I understand why,’’ he continued, leaving unsaid that the words “climate change” were banned from the lexicon for much of the eight-year tenure of former Gov. Rick Scott, and the state’s response to it was not considered a priority.

EDIT

“The world is changing and so is the leadership in state government,’’ he said. But he stopped short of saying the Republican governor and the GOP leadership of the House and Senate, as well as the development, utility and insurance industries that finance them, will support the “paradigm shift.” Just as Scott set the tone for little climate talk in Florida, President Donald Trump has derided climate change, avoids uttering the phrase, and has directed his top officials to reject the science. Will the Florida Legislature be willing to talk about climate change, let alone address the issue with legislation? “It’s a little too early to predict this,’’ Lee said. “I think reality is going to set in and, if it doesn’t, it’s going to hit us right in the face.”

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The committee heard from Florida experts on sea level rise, infrastructure resiliency, transportation and how South Florida governments have worked together despite the state’s intransigence. “We have detected that sea level rise is accelerating” faster than what they had predicted in the past,’’ said Gary Mitchum, professor of marine science at the University of South Florida. By 2050, the oceans will be two feet higher along Florida’s shores. Before that happens, however, “it’s going to get worse as the climate continues to warm.’’ Sunny-day flooding will be a constant foe, putting a demand on roads, sewers, tunnels and buildings in ways that defy current plans, he said.

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https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/10/15/ten-years-late-floridas-gop-lawmakers-address-climate-change-what-now/

[Captain Zero]

1. Of course, they are going to need Federal tax payer money

to shore up the dykes where possible.

[bronxiteforever]

2. K&R. All the the ideology in the GOP can't stop the water.

[mountain grammy]

3. Glug, glug.. let's talk..

[AnnieBW]

4. Sea Levels in Florida

I was just visiting my MIL in Venice, on the West Coas of FL this weekend. While she lives in a beach town, she lives about 2 miles away from the water, so she doesn't see it every day. We drove down to the jetty, and were really blown away by how high the water was in the harbor and Intracoastal Waterway. Granted, it was a high tide with a full moon, so that added to the water level. But, it was almost to the bottom of the docks! Yeah, Floridians - keep telling yourselves that there's no such thing as climate change. You'll just be shelling out more money for dredging, sea walls, and repairing damaged facilities.