Florida governor has ignored climate change risks, critics say

TAMPA – Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has been ubiquitous in recent days as Hurricane Irma bears down on the Sunshine State, warning of deadly winds and storm surges and imploring residents to heed evacuation orders.

Debris and trash is seen on a beach in Cap-Haitien
 on Sept. 7, 2017, as Hurricane Irma approaches.
 Irma was packing maximum sustained winds of
 up to 185 mph (295 kph) as it followed a projected
 path that would see it hit the northern edges of
The Dominican Republic and Haiti on Thursday,
continuing past eastern Cuba before veering north
 for Florida.

“This is a catastrophic storm our state has never seen,” he cautioned at one of many news conferences.

By all accounts, Scott and other officials have aggressively tried to prepare the state and its residents for the destructive storm’s impact and the immediate aftermath.

But for all of Scott’s vigor in readying Florida for Irma’s wrath, his administration has done little over the years to prepare for what scientists say are the inevitable effects of climate change that will wreak havoc in the years to come. With its far-reaching coastline and low elevation, Florida is one of the states at greatest risk from rising sea levels, extreme weather events – including more powerful hurricanes – and other consequences of a warming planet.

Read the Denver Post story - “Florida governor has ignored climate change risks, critics say.”