Beam me to Planet Gore !
[excerpt] …..Four years ago, the newly elected Crist told legislators that global warming is “one of the most important issues that we will face this century.” Crist pledged to “bring together the brightest minds” and “place our state at the forefront of a growing worldwide movement to reduce greenhouse gases.”
….. But Crist’s ardor for battling global warming cooled considerably as the economy collapsed and he mounted a bid for the U.S. Senate. Crist’s successor, Gov. Rick Scott, doesn’t think climate change is real, even though it’s accepted as fact by everyone from NASA to the Army to the Vatican.
“I’ve not been convinced that there’s any man-made climate change,” Scott said last week. “Nothing’s convinced me that there is.”
Now Tallahassee has lost its passion for combatting climate change. Some lawmakers attempted last month to repeal the Florida Climate Protection Act, arguing it was no longer needed. They did pass another bill abolishing the Florida Energy and Climate Commission and handing its duties to Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, suggesting they see the future in ethanol and biofuels, not solar, wind or other alternate fuels.
The shift came as a surprise to commission chair Jim Murley.
…In its two-year lifespan the climate commission did very little about climate change, Murley said. Instead, thanks to an influx of $175 million in federal stimulus funds, it turned into an ATM for energy efficiency projects, which he said is a good legacy if this is the end.
But some of the commission’s grants went to two groups in Florida who do still care about climate change: local government agencies and universities. In fact, as Tallahassee has turned its back on the subject, those two groups have become more active than ever….. [end excerpt]