Climate change poses health risks. But it is difficult to combat it if politicians ignore it. • Stateline

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida is the hottest state in the U.S., and its residents suffer the most from heat-related illnesses. Older people are most vulnerable to the heat, and nearly 4.7 million Floridians – one in five residents – are over the age of 65.

The peninsula's coastline is 8,400 miles long, and three-quarters of the state's residents live in coastal counties that are at risk from rising sea levels, extreme rainfall, and increasingly violent hurricanes.

Climate change is making Florida hotter, increasing the risk of flooding and severe storms. According to the Office of the State Climate Scientist at Florida State University, the state is increasingly facing “negative public health impacts such as heat-related illness and death, particularly among more vulnerable populations.”

But Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has resisted many efforts to address the causes and public health impacts of climate change. As a result, Florida's cities, counties and nonprofits have had to take on a larger role in tackling higher temperatures – without adequate money and resources to do so, many argue.

Florida is perhaps a better example than any other state of how the politicization of climate change thwarts efforts to combat it.

Unlike a growing number of other states, Florida does not have a statewide plan specifically designed to help residents cope with extreme heat and other impacts of climate change. Dr. Cheryl Holder, co-chair of Miami-Dade County's Climate and Heat Health Task Force, said that in the absence of state leadership, Florida's cities and counties have done what they can. In 2021, for example, Miami-Dade County appointed its first chief heat officer, and last month Tampa released a “heat resilience handbook” that includes steps like improving and protecting the city's tree canopy.

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But Holder said a nationwide effort – similar to health campaigns to curb smoking – would have a far greater impact.

“Systematic changes are better, but we have to limit ourselves to a piecemeal approach,” Holder told Stateline.

In Florida and across the country, government public health leadership is critical, said Kristie Ebi, a University of Washington professor, epidemiologist and expert on the health risks of climate change.

“Local health departments follow the lead of the state health department and it's difficult to go against that,” Ebi said. “If the state health department says, 'This is the approach, this is the perspective, these are the parameters,' it's difficult for the local health department to do anything differently.”

DeSantis' office, as well as the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, did not respond to Stateline's requests for comment prior to publication.

A cross-party concern in the past

As recently as 2008, climate change was a bipartisan issue in Florida. But DeSantis, who unsuccessfully ran for the Republican presidential nomination this year, embodies his party's current hostile attitude toward climate change – a position shared by his predecessor as Florida governor, current U.S. Senator Rick Scott.

In May, for example, DeSantis signed a law that removes references to climate change from the state's energy policy and relieves state agencies of the obligation to consider climate change when implementing it. “We are restoring sanity to our use of energy and rejecting the agenda of radical green zealots,” DeSantis said. wrote on X.

In April, DeSantis signed a law prohibiting Florida cities and counties from enacting their own heat protection measures, such as mandatory drinking breaks for outdoor workers. As a result, Miami-Dade County was forced to withdraw its pending rule that would have required drinking breaks for outdoor workers and heat-related illness training for employers.

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed a similar law last year that prohibits cities from passing ordinances to protect against heat waves.

Meanwhile, many other countries are moving in the opposite direction.

States such as Arizona, California, Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Wisconsin have used federal funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop statewide plans to combat the public health impacts of climate change. All have Democratic governors.

In April, the Democratic-led state of New Jersey released a draft extreme heat resilience action plan that includes providing public cooling centers, planting additional trees and implementing workplace safety regulations.

Statewide information campaigns are planned in California and New Jersey to raise public awareness of the risks of extreme heat, particularly among vulnerable populations such as the elderly and the homeless.

Florida State University also received a grant from the CDC, but the team is focused on working with local health authorities, said project leader Chris Uejio, a medical geographer and associate professor at FSU.

“We are always available as a partner if the state decides that it needs further information in this direction,” said Uejio.

“Staying behind the pack”

Although DeSantis downplayed concerns about climate change, he approved $640 million in new state spending in 2021 to help communities cope with rising sea levels, increased storms and flooding. And in 2019, he appointed the state's first chief resilience officer.

But DeSantis' interest in such efforts waned as his presidential campaign gained momentum. Florida was one of five states (Iowa, Kentucky, South Dakota and Wyoming were the others) that declined to apply for federal grants to reduce climate pollution under President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. The federal government allowed large metropolitan areas to apply for their own climate planning grants. Five Florida counties applied for their own and received money for planning but no grants for implementation.

A year ago, DeSantis turned down nearly $350 million in federal energy efficiency incentives and consumer rebates under the Inflation Reduction Act. But this year, after dropping out of the primary race, DeSantis accepted the money.

Cooler states must now cope with extreme heat caused by climate change

Susan Glickman, vice president of policy and partnerships at the CLEO Institute, a Florida-based nonprofit focused on climate education and advocacy, praised the state for its efforts to address sea level rise and assess the vulnerability of coastal communities. But Glickman said Florida needs to address the root causes and cascading impacts of climate change.

“We need to adapt to a warming climate, but the decisions we are making now that do not address the root cause of the problem are really unacceptable,” Glickman said. “You cannot get rid of climate change by adapting.”

Kim Ross, executive director of ReThink Energy Florida, a Tallahassee-based nonprofit that promotes clean energy, said the DeSantis administration is an obstacle.

“This could be a state that really focuses on the inventions that need to be made,” Ross said. “Instead, we're just falling behind the competition.”

Ross said when she sees opportunities for federal climate change grants, her first question is whether it is possible to get such a grant without government support.

“I ask myself, 'Is there a non-governmental option?' And I continue to encourage everyone I can talk to at the federal level to create a non-governmental option,” she said.