There has been a dearth of discussion regarding what to do about climate change causing an increase in severity and the number of extreme weather conditions on the campaign trail by both the GOP MAGA ex-president and the democrat party’s presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. But at least VP Harris has a record of signing onto the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that earmarked $369 billion to be used for renewable energy projects and energy-efficient technology. The GOP MAGA ex-president and other GOP MAGA leaders like Florida’s Governor Ron Desantis keep downplaying/ denying the effects of climate change on the increase of extreme weather events, as consumers face huge rising invisible taxation rates due to astronomical increases in property insurance premiums, if they can get it. This contributes to the inflationary reality of consumers having to purchase homes at higher prices and landlords upping the rental costs.
The GOP MAGA ex-president discussions on climate change have been limited to a policy of, drill, drill, drill at his rallies. During the debate his thoughts on climate change did not go far beyond him making a scattered mention of solar energy—warning that under a Kamala Harris presidency, the country would “go back to windmills and solar, where they need a whole desert to get some energy to come out.” Historically, he has defined climate change being a catalyst for more extreme and harsher weather events in the USA, as a hoax. In addition, he has promised tax breaks, deregulation to the fossil fuel companies in exchange for their donations.
It stands to reason that climate change denial by GOP MAGA officials cannot continue in the face of an increase in the number and severity of extreme weather events due to climate change around the world. Not competently addressing the reality of climate change will have a devastating impact on a whole set of issues like consumers having to pay more for food, vegetables and fruits, exacerbating any migration issues, increasing conflicts over energy supplies.
See: “The Next President Will Be a Climate-Disaster President/ The Atlantic
The Cost of Ron DeSantis’s Ideological Purity – The Atlantic
This refusal to competently address the reality of climate change lets down homeowners in states vulnerable to hurricanes and/ or floods like Florida, facing huge price sticker shock increases in property insurance premium rates, that is if the policies aren’t cancelled outright. In south Florida, it’s not unusual for a homeowner to pay $11,000 annually for homeowners’ insurance.
In 2023, the GOP MAGA Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, on ideology grounds, nixed access to $346 million in federal monies via the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that could’ve been used in part to help homeowners improve the infrastructure of their properties to better mitigate against the harm done by extreme weather conditions. He reversed this decision in 2024 but not in time to help homeowners prepare for the 2024 storm season. It was more important to him to own the libs—even at the expense of his own constituents.
But this story gets worse under a state like Florida led by GOP MAGAs like Governor Desantis who signed a 2024 bill stating affirmatively that Florida’s state government will no longer be required to consider climate change issues when crafting any legislation related to energy.
This harmful attitude by GOP MAGA officials is why Floridians should be voting for democrat party candidates, up and down the ticket, including Debbie Mucarsel-Powell to be the next US senator instead of Rick Scott, a GOP MAGA Trump loyalist.
The following New York Times article better describes what it looks like to have a state like Florida, led by GOP MAGAs…
As per a May 15, 2024 New York Times article by Coral Davenport, “DeSantis Signs Law Deleting Climate Change From Florida Policy
Excerpts:
“Florida’s state government will no longer be required to consider climate change when crafting energy policy under legislation signed Wednesday by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican.”
“The new law, which passed the Florida Legislature in March and takes effect on July 1, will also prohibit the construction of offshore wind turbines in state waters and will repeal state grant programs that encourage energy conservation and renewable energy.”
“The legislation also deletes requirements that state agencies use climate-friendly products and purchase fuel-efficient vehicles. And it prevents any municipality from restricting the type of fuel that can be used in an appliance, such as a gas stove.”
“The legislation, along with two other bills Mr. DeSantis signed on Wednesday, “will keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and China out of our state,” the governor wrote on the social media platform X. “We’re restoring sanity in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of the radical green zealots.”
“Florida is one of the states most vulnerable to the costly and deadly impacts of climate change, which is largely driven by the burning of oil, gas and coal. Multiple scientific studies have shown that the increase of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has contributed to sea level rise and more flooding in the state’s coastal cities.”
“Last year was the hottest in Florida since 1895, and the waters off its coast heated to 90 degrees during the summer, bleaching corals and scorching marine life. Hurricane Idalia made landfall on Aug. 30 near Keaton Beach and caused an estimated $3.6 billion in damages. The year before, Hurricane Ian was blamed for more than 140 deaths and $109.5 billion in damages in Florida, becoming the costliest hurricane in state history, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.”
“Faced with growing losses from floods and increasingly extreme weather, major insurers are pulling out of the state. Florida homeowners are scrambling to find coverage and, when they do, are paying some of the highest insurance premiums in the country. Thousands have enrolled in the state’s high-risk insurance pool of last resort, a fund that Mr. DeSantis has said is “insolvent.” Instability in the insurance market threatens Florida real estate and, by extension, the state’s economy, experts say.”
“But Mr. DeSantis, who suspended his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in January, has attacked climate policies as part of a push in the broader partisan culture wars. In a presidential debate last fall, Mr. DeSantis promised that “on Day 1, I’m taking all the Biden regulations, the Green New Deal, ripping it up and throwing it in the trash can where it belongs.”
“Last year, Mr. DeSantis rejected $346 million that was available in federal funds to help Florida residents make their homes more energy-efficient, despite a request from the State Legislature that Florida accept the money.”
“Florida is largely powered by natural gas, which provided about 74 percent of the state’s total net electricity generation in 2022. Nuclear power supplied about 12 percent, and solar and coal provided the remainder, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Florida has no offshore wind industry.”
“Brooke Alexander-Goss, the clean energy organizing manager for the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club, said that Mr. DeSantis had “failed” his constituents by signing the bill.”
“Allowing this bill to become law jeopardizes the health and safety of all Floridians, further proving that his top priority is to appease large corporations and fossil fuel companies,” she said. “We’ll pay more at the pump and for our insurance premiums, and we’ll certainly see increases in climate-related disasters and deaths.”
“Michael B. Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, said that the deletion of climate change as a priority is largely a symbolic action that does not prohibit lawmakers from considering climate change in state energy policy.”
“If they had a differently minded governor in the future, the governor could still say, ‘I want to consider climate change.”
“But, he said, the symbolism could still have a political effect. “It’s a strong signaling device that could have an effect on private-sector actions, such as investment in clean-energy efforts in the state, and research in the universities,” Gerrard said. “Students and professors who care deeply about climate change aren’t going to be drawn to Florida, and climate research dollars could flow elsewhere.”
DeSantis’s Florida Approves Climate-Denial Videos
In Florida, Skyrocketing Insurance Rates Test Resolve … / Inside Climate …
Gronda Morin 