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   From: george.core@yahoo.com   
      
   Surprising Everyone, Florida’s New Republican Governor Orders Sweeping   
   Environmental Reform   
      
   Brian Kahn   
      
   In his first week in office, Florida’s new Republican Governor Ron Desantis   
   has made the environment and climate change a top focus.   
      
   On Thursday, Desantis signed an executive order to tackle the myriad   
   environmental problems facing the state from toxic algae to sea level rise   
   to Everglades degradation. He also asked for the resignation of all board   
   members of Florida’s most powerful water management district, which has   
   come under fire for leasing parts of the Everglades needed for restoration   
   to the sugar industry just after November’s election. In doing so, Desantis   
   immediately cleared the incredibly low bar of “doing better than Rick   
   Scott,” though there are still details that need to be sussed out to   
   determine just how much oomph the new policies will have.   
      
   The biggest ticket item on DeSantis’ environmental executive order was to   
   score $2.5 billion over the next four years for Everglades protection and   
   restoration. Among the litany of other directives, the order also includes   
   the creation of an algae task force to deal with the state’s persistent   
   toxic blooms, taking actions to “adamantly oppose” offshore drilling and   
   fracking, and appointing a chief science officer and Office of Resilience   
   and Coastal Protection “to help prepare Florida’s coastal communities and   
   habitats for impacts from sea level rise.”   
      
   “It’s bold to see recommendations of this magnitude coming two days after   
   you see a new gov inaugurated,” Julie Wraithmell, executive of the Florida   
   Audubon Society, told Earther. “These are solutions we’ve known about but   
   haven’t had the political will to do. I’m very encouraged by not just what   
   he said but how he said it. This clearly a big priority for him and his   
   entire administration.”   
      
   That’s all well and good, but the order is also light on details about how   
   it will be implemented, particularly when it comes to finances. Wraithmell   
   said that it appears some of the policy stuff is in motion at the   
   Department of Environmental Protection and she’s looking forward to seeing   
   the governor’s budget proposal that usually drops in early February. Senate   
   Democrats were a little more muted.   
      
   “While I am encouraged that Governor DeSantis is taking the first steps to   
   address the dire water pollution crisis facing Florida, I am concerned by   
   the lack of details in his directive,” state senate minority leader Audrey   
   Gibson said in a statement. “His order calls for the securing of $2.5   
   billion over the next four years to invest in Everglades restoration and   
   protecting our water resources, but there is no identification of where   
   that money will come from.”   
      
   In a separate announcement, DeSantis also called for the board of the   
   Southwest Florida Water Management District, which oversees the Everglades   
   and water for nearly 8 million Floridians living between Orlando and the   
   Florida keys, to resign.   
      
   DeSantis ran on most of these issues during the governor’s race when he   
   beat out Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum in November. One area where Gillum   
   drew a major distinction with DeSantis was being pro-climate action, and   
   laying out a plan to not only address sea level rise but its cause in the   
   form of spiraling carbon pollution. Desantis’ order doesn’t really do that   
   aside from the language surrounding fracking and offshore drilling.   
      
   Nor does the order mention the words “climate change.” Ditto for DeSantis,   
   who didn’t utter the phrase when touting it, according to the Miami Herald.   
   In that regard, DeSantis is following in the footsteps of his predecessor,   
   who famously banned the use of the phrase during his governorship.   
      
   Still, Florida environmental groups ranged from cautiously optimistic to   
   downright excitement over Florida’s future.   
      
   “We congratulate Governor DeSantis for these bold pronouncements,”   
   Everglade Foundations CEO Eric Eikenberg said in a statement sent to   
   Earther, noting the “initiatives mark the beginning of a new and more   
   hopeful era for the Sunshine State, for its waterways and for the Florida   
   Everglades.”   
      
   That would be big news given that Florida has had no shortage of water   
   crises. Toxic algae have befouled Lake Okeechobee as well as both coasts of   
   Florida in recent months, including a rare Atlantic bloom. Freshwater is   
   being kept out of the Everglades because of industrial farming, disrupting   
   one of the most unique ecological systems on the planet. And sea level rise   
   is causing saltwater to creep into aquifers, further mess up the   
   Everglades, and destroy communities by boosting hurricane storm surge like   
   we saw with Michael last year.   
      
   Addressing all these requires a complete overhaul of how the state manages   
   its waterways and coastlines. DeSantis’ plan isn’t nearly bold enough in   
   that regard, and its ignorance of climate change could mean it eventually   
   comes back to bite Floridians.   
      
   Speaking with the Miami Herald, Sierra Club Florida Chapter Director Frank   
   Jackalone put it clearly: “If you’re building the sea walls and doing   
   nothing about the cause [of sea rise], then you have to come back 10 years   
   later to build a sea wall again.”   
      
      
      
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