What will it take on climate
change?
As the Florida Panhandle
begins to recover from Hurricane Michael, the state's attention will turn to a
big Senate race next month. Hurricane Michael may cast the deciding vote.
Term-limited Republican
Gov. Rick Scott hopes to unseat veteran Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, and if he
does, Democrats can kiss their hopes to take over the Senate goodbye.
Scott just completed
a tour de force as the in-charge governor leading the
emergency response to Michael. Like him or not, he's good at this. By contrast,
Nelson is stiff and uneasy on TV. Fair or not, elections are decided by such
things.
Scott is also a
first-rate climate denier. In 2015, whistleblowers and former staffers for the
state environment agency accused Scott of banning discussion of climate
change in any state meetings or documents. Scott denied the
charges.
For the past eight
years, Scott has run a state experiencing rising seas, intense storms, and
unprecedented algae blooms offshore. And this climate denier's political star
may be rising. Go figure.
If he wins a Senate
seat, Gov. Rick Scott will become the latest example of how climate denial is
not a political liability.
Climate change is rarely mentioned as a factor in news coverage of extreme weather or wildfires. It was rarely mentioned in coverage of Hurricanes Florence and Michael.
And it will be up to the
somnolent Senator Nelson to make it an issue as he fights for his political
life over the next four weeks.
In the immediate wake of
Hurricane Michael, he appears to be reticent to do so, for fear that he'd
appear to be politicizing a tragedy.
Denial: Not a political
liability
If he wins a Senate
seat, Scott will become the latest example of how climate denial is not a
political liability. The same can be said for Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in
Texas.
How did Republicans get
to be the way they are today? It wasn't always this way. From about 2008 to
2010, some of the biggest names in the party backed away from previous
statements and actions acknowledging the threat of climate change.
Newt Gingrich disowned
a famous climate commercial he did with Nancy Pelosi. Mitt Romney became a
doubter after creating a forward-thinking climate action plan while
Massachusetts governor.
The late John McCain backed off after co-sponsoring climate legislation. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin – Sarah Palin!! – created a "climate sub-cabinet" before departing for national aspirations and reality TV.
As denial slowly fades
among the general public, it's more firmly entrenched than ever in Washington,
D.C.
By 2014, it was simply
out of the question for a Republican who wanted to seek or keep an elective
office to stump for climate action.
"I am not a scientist" became
a nonsensical disclaimer, as if lack of a Ph.D. robbed one of the moral
authority to listen to real scientists and form an opinion. Scott was one of
many who went there, as did Florida's other senator, Republican Marco Rubio.
Fertile turf
With the 2016 elections,
President Trump's cabinet became fertile turf for climate deniers. As denial
slowly fades among the general public, it's more firmly entrenched than ever in
Washington, D.C.
Florida just got
walloped by the most intense hurricane ever to landfall on its Gulf Coast. The
summer saw algae blooms on
both its coasts that surpassed any previous outbreaks. Miami Beach is
actively preparing to elevate its streets to adapt to flooding that's already
underway.
All of which returns us
to the central question: Just what will it take to get climate deniers like
Scott to admit that there might be a little problem here? If
he's rewarded with a six-year term in the Senate, the solution may be more
difficult than ever.