South Floridians need to elect climate-focused legislators in 2020 | Opinion
As the 2020 elections approach and we focus on the most prominent issues — the coronavirus pandemic, racial justice and the economy — South Floridians cannot forget about another ongoing challenge: climate change. With sea levels set to rise half a foot in certain parts of our area, climate change isn’t simply theoretical for us as it may seem for other Americans.
As we deal with flooding, extreme temperatures and stronger hurricanes, the cost of inaction on environmental issues becomes more and more apparent.
In Miami-Dade County alone, this issue puts more than 300,000 homes at risk of annual flooding by the end of the century. As voters, we do not have the luxury of being able to elect people who will drag their feet on this issue on either side of the political aisle. Both deniers and alarmists have proven themselves useless to this conversation, which is why we voters need to hold our leaders accountable on this issue come November, or sooner with early voting. This will be achieved not by electing those who will push for an unrealistic Green New Deal, which is unaffordable and would irreparably damage our economy, but by electing leaders who will support sober solutions that will protect our environment and our economy.
Many of these solutions can be found in the American Climate Contract, an innovative plan put forth by leading environmental advocates who recognize that we can pass workable solutions that will advance economic and environmental interests commensurately. This plan would promote American energy innovation through targeted investments, promotion of nuclear power, public-private partnerships and consumer choice.
It would advance a 21st-century infrastructure agenda that would allow us to more efficiently utilize that energy and promote innovative farming techniques and natural carbon sequestration. This plan also recognizes the reality that 85 percent of emissions come from other countries and that, if we want to get serious about climate change, the United States must remain engaged in promoting emissions reductions across the globe. South Floridians know we cannot wait for a silver-bullet solution on climate change. We must take action now.
While this plan may seem like common sense to a vast majority of South Floridians who recognize climate change as an existential threat to our community, it has garnered staunch opposition both from the far right that would deny the fact that the climate is changing and from the far left that is unsatisfied with any climate plan that does not impose socialism on the American people.
As responsible citizens and voters, we must elect leaders who will reject both of these extremes and lead on environmental issues with solutions that could pass with bipartisan support. Climate change is so serious an issue that it should occupy a space beyond the reach of petty partisanship. Feasible proposals should always be favored over rhetoric and they should promote energy innovation, make improvements to our infrastructure, take full advantage of nature-based resources and, most important, engage the world on this issue. After all, we cannot solve climate change alone in South Florida.
While our livelihoods may not directly depend on the actions — or inaction — of our leaders when it comes to cimate change, those of our children and grandchildren most certainly will. We cannot lose sight of this long-term challenge even during these tumultuous times for our country. South Florida deserves leaders who not only talk about climate change on the campaign trail, but who are willing to build bridges across the political divide to deliver durable solutions that will secure a healthy planet and a prosperous economy for all.
Carlos Curbelo served Florida’s 26th congressional district from 2015 to 2019. Ethan Suquet is the Southeast Florida regional director of the American Conservation Coalition and a student at Florida International University.
