Clean-energy economy is key to slowing effects of climate change Everyone needs to see how carbon emissions, global warming and extreme disasters are connected.
For Florida residents living on the ever-expanding path of hurricanes, the biggest concern out of 2018 is runaway climate change. Yet many politicians act as if the threat lies well over the horizon, while climate science tells us otherwise—as do 2018’s epic storms in the southeastern United States and the deadly fires in the west. The only way out of this predicament is an urgent shift from fossil fuels to a clean-energy economy.
Such change can only be driven by a people’s movement spurring solutions. To enable a popular movement, there needs to be a change in people’s mindsets. Everyone needs to see how carbon emissions, global warming and extreme disasters are connected. Indeed, scientists attribute global warming to the higher probability of events such as Hurricane Harvey in Texas in 2017 and Hurricane Irma in Florida in 2017.
Florida is at the front end of climate calamities. Sea level rise around the State has increased 8 inches since 1950. The annual king tides are increasingly flooding coastal streets with seawater. Few cities are as exposed to rising sea levels as Miami, and floods are a growing threat to Orlando as seen during Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Michael. Beaches in Miami to Lake Worth have tested positive for red tide. Since 1980, temperature averages in the US have increased by 1.4°F. Among the 25 hottest US cities, Miami is the fastest warming.
Florida is also a big contributor to emissions, its economy being sixth in the U.S. in CO2 emissions. In addition to cutting its own emissions, the State’s high vulnerability to climate disasters obliges its leadership to be a voice for climate action.
There is urgency for stronger coastal defenses to storms and floods. We also need to shift to a low carbon economy. A report from the Global Carbon Pact reveals that global carbon emissions were at an all-time high in 2018 from increases in coal use and automobiles. In the United States, the second largest emitter after China, the Administration has gutted climate policies, replacing them with fossil-fuel friendly steps.
Meanwhile, there are examples of local steps in reducing the carbon intensity. Six Florida cities, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Gainesville, Largo, Sarasota and Dunedin, have set goals to shift to 100 percent renewable energy. A 2018 law in California requires that all its electricity must be generated by renewable energy within 25 years.
But scaling up these examples needs public support. Public opinion was a driver of the efforts that changed the tide in many other crisis situations, for example to counter terrorism in the 1970s and after 9⁄11. The role of public opinion was also crucial in campaigns against pandemics. We need a similar response for the climate crisis.
Checking climate change will avert huge damages to lives and livelihood, especially in coastal areas. Florida’s stakes in climate action are enormously high, worthy of a popular movement propelling radical change.