Gov. Ron DeSantis recently issued a state of emergency for multiple South Florida counties in response to the devastating rains and flash flooding. Yet less than a month ago, DeSantis signed a bill that sought to expand natural gas infrastructure, putting concerns about climate change on the back burner.
Celebrating the bill in a post made on X, DeSantis wrote “We’re restoring sanity in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of the radical green zealots.”
By failing to recognize the impact between his climate change doubts and the newfound intensity of Florida weather, DeSantis carries the image of an oblivious, politically charged leader who cannot bear to shift his focus on anything else but money.
This focus on the economy is a great short-term solution that will please Floridians' pockets, but it ignores the problems that will arise in the next 20 to 30 years because of our current failure to take environmental action.
We must direct some of our resources towards reducing climate change before future generations are out of luck.
Of course, I’m not saying that pushing for climate change legislation in Florida will magically stop the flash floods and reverse the damage. But I’ve lived in Florida for most of my life, and I know what hurricane season can look like; these record-breaking rains and floods are not that.
It’s my hope that by fighting to see climate change practiced in law, it will push us toward a climate-aware Florida.
But soon enough, our negligence will cause these “record-breaking” rains to become our new norm. Every year’s statistics will just become the basis for the next.
A lot of young adults are feeling hopeless, especially those who desire to be future leaders. I look at the people who “represent” us in office and am often left feeling disillusioned about the glorious campaigns that these representatives won with.
Many attempted to campaign similarly to one of the most iconic phrases from the Gettysburg Address: “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” But with the recent actions that politicians such as DeSantis have prided themselves upon, it seems as though the people he has in favor are not a true majority but only those who can bring money.
Our leaders have enveloped themselves in an “out of sight, out of mind” attitude with climate change. But now it seems even when the science is right in front of their faces, they negate the message by accusing environmentalists with baseless political agendas.
DeSantis, how can you claim to have the people in mind when you scoff and take no action when your cities are drowning? To whom do you turn to for approval whenever scientists say that we have less than a decade before we cause irreversible damage to the Earth?
In the end, negligence in who we choose to run our offices will leave us drowning. As young adults, we have been granted one of the most powerful tools at our disposal: the right to vote. In a political climate like ours, it is more important than ever to vote for the politicians who will actually take the time to listen to us.
Utilizing fossil fuels is one of the quickest ways to push humanity further into climate disaster, and DeSantis has opened those doors wide open. Whether Floridians will drown in fossil fuels or our oceans is a game DeSantis is willing to play.
The solution?
Our only lifejacket: voting.
Ace Mclain is a UF engineering freshman.
