Florida's Climate Summit - Live!
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 07.13.07
The way Florida's Governor Crist is acting, hosting a bi-partisan,green political celebrity-attended event, you'd think Florida was sticking out like a thumb in the hurricane zone... and running out of fresh water. Oh...wait. It is. "On Thursday, July 12th and Friday, July 13th, Governor Charlie Crist hosts the Florida Summit on Global Climate Change. The goal of the summit is to bring together state, national and international leaders, along with prominent members of the business and environmental communities, to explore opportunities for advancing the global climate change agenda and for adopting specific climate action plans." You can watch today's proceedings via webcast if you have MS Windows Media Player by clicking here. Guests over the two day summit include:- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; and Theodore Roosevelt V, the great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt. Governor Crist said Thursday "Florida will pursue global solar energy sources. After all, we are the Sunshine State." Sounds like an independent party caucus. Climate Party anyone? Via:: WFSU, The Florida Channel
Update:- Washington Post reports that "Crist is also trying to lead by personal example. His day-to-day vehicle runs on 85 percent ethanol and he's installing solar panels at the governor's mansion next week. He recently bought a new boat and made sure he chose an engine that is more fuel efficient and burns cleaner." It is Florida after all.
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holy moly!!! I'm from florida (now residing in tennessee) and am surprised by this. It's more than Jebby Bush ever did... wonder why!
It seems like a good thing Gov. Crist is doing here, but it's just a political smokescreen to cover how much Charlie has already wrecked our beautiful state. Being a native Floridian (one of the very few), I can't agree more that steps need to be taken in changing our states outlook towards our environment. However, many people outside of the state may not know that good ol' Charlie just signed a property tax cut bill that will cut around $15.6 Billion in the next 5 years. Unfortunately, the state and local programs that will suffer the most are some of the most important in regards to quality of life. Parks and Recreation Departments (of which my mother works, and has been a loyal employee for over 25 years), and planning departments are two of the first to have budget cuts. Being a Urban Planning student myself I ask Mr. Crist, who is going to be left to formulate these statewide climate initiatives if all of the planning departments are being cut? Seems as if we would need additional budget for the departments. Our Governor should figure out how not to cripple a state before he tries to play environmental savior. This problem is much larger than a C-list politician line-up, and a self contradicting Arnold saying "Hasta la vista" to greenhouse gases.
P.S. Driving a car than runs on biofuels doesn't change the fact that Crist is still a politician whose past votes completely contradict his current "green" appearance. Makes me sick!
A shout out to Carl Hiassen, native Floridian tarpon enthusiast who has helped to put environmentalism in Florida back on the map with his Herald columns and hilarious crime novels. Tourist Season is the perfect beach read!