Alongside environmental activists in Alachua County, Bob Tancig hopes for a better future through local politics in the face of global climate change.
“It’s about the kids alive today, the future generations,” he said.
Following the Aug. 20 primary, local candidates headed to the November general election campaign with a focus on environmental policy as the City of Gainesville and Alachua County collaboratively develop climate action strategies. The recently completed county Climate Vulnerability Assessment will serve as a blueprint for climate-focused goals as voters form a stance on solutions tailored to local needs.
Completed in July, the assessment analyzed global warming from a local perspective, detailing threats of heat waves, heavy rainfall and sea level rise. It found that extreme weather and lower water quality, paired with a strained food supply and declining economy, could impact the county as a result.
As a Gainesville resident, Vine Sourdough Bakery pasta-maker Tancig is seeking an answer to the climate crisis that suits city needs.
The implementation of adaptive climate strategies will be a swaying point in his general election voting decisions as the threat of global warming grows more pressing. While national and international policy provides a path to global collaboration, he said the majority of action takes place locally.
The city and county aim to gather public input on their individual climate action policies by the end of 2024, a process advised by the Joint Water and Climate Policy Board and Citizen Climate Advisory Committee.
‘County resilience’ during election season
Days after the general election, the county will host a summit Nov. 16 to seek community opinion on a climate action draft, an effort advised by local candidates up for re-election.
Alachua County Commissioner Anna Prizzia will advance to the November general election for her District 3 seat with a campaign rooted in ensuring water quality and land protections, which she plans to carry out as a current member of the Joint Water and Climate Policy Board.
The board, composed of three county commissioners, three city commissioners and one member from an outlying municipality, advises local government on intersectional city and county environmental priorities.
Regardless of election season, Prizzia said the development of a climate action plan through community and scientific input has remained at the forefront of county priorities.
“The climate issue is here to stay, and it’s a priority of the county to make sure that we are providing good mitigation and adaptation strategies … regardless of who is in office,” she said. “Politics has really stayed out of it.”
Alachua County Commissioner and board member Mary Alford felt similarly. In her pursuit of re-election representing District 1, Alford said her campaign will maintain carbon-neutrality through tree planting and sustainable infrastructure.
As discussions of climate action plans begin to reach the public this fall, she emphasized the necessity of “county resilience” in the face of climate change’s unpredictable impacts.
“Economic and equity needs in our county are something that we take very seriously, and all of those things fit into resilience,” she said.
Alford said her priorities include addressing the possible increase of climate migration into North Central Florida as citizens flee sea level rise on the coast. Alachua County’s population could grow by 8% by the end of the century due to climate migrants alone, exacerbating housing and food supply concerns, according to the county’s Climate Vulnerability Assessment.
Prizzia and Alford’s Republican challengers Jenn Garrett and Lizabeth Doebler, respectively, did not respond in time for publication.
City mitigation and adaptation
Gainesville Chief Climate Officer Dan Zhu said the city’s plan will prioritize the mitigation of existing climate-related challenges and adaptation to future risks.
The strategy is framed by a July $24.6 million grant awarded by the Federal Transit Administration dedicated to sustainable infrastructure development, including the replacement of diesel Regional Transit System buses with hybrid electric buses.
The city will also continue to pursue its established goals of Zero Waste by 2040 and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, which Zhu said would be folded into the city’s future climate action policies.
“While the plan includes some initiatives already underway, all actions will be evaluated both in the short and long term following the plan’s adoption to ensure their effectiveness and adaptability,” Zhu wrote through a city spokesperson.
‘Urban jungle’ voters weigh in
Equipped with a newspaper classified ad and an interest in local environmental policy, Gainesville resident and scientist James Fulton launched his involvement in the Citizen Climate Advisory Committee in 2020.
Appointed by the Joint Water and Climate Policy Board, committee members provide community guidance on city and county environmental policy, including the development of climate action plans.
Before the Aug. 30 conclusion of his three-year term on the committee, Fulton offered counsel on pressing city and county issues, which included energy, recycling, water usage and climate change. However, he said conscious infrastructure development should be a priority item for local candidates during election season.
“One of the reasons why I love Gainesville so much is that we’re known as an urban jungle,” he said. “We want to make sure that development is smart and that as we’re expanding the city, we’re doing it in ways that make the city more efficient.”
And for Tancig, he balances his pasta-making duties with another responsibility: serving as campaign chair for the Climate Reality Project Gainesville chapter, a global non-profit founded by former Vice President Al Gore.
The organization focuses on several “impact areas,” which Tancig said include expanding renewable energy, zero-carbon transportation, green communities, environmental justice and public health.
“Our role is to promote awareness in the community … about what are the impacts of climate change,” Tancig said. “Our challenge is to go out and create the political will to drive either individual action or public policy.”
Contact Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp at rdigiacomo-rapp@alligator.org. Follow her on X @rylan_digirapp.
Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp is a third year journalism and environmental science major and the Fall 2024 Enterprise Environmental Reporter. Outside of the newsroom, you can usually find her haunting local music venues.
