Well, Well, Well: Heb! And Marco Robotio Agree To Deny Climate Change To 15 Florida Mayors
Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush should be getting an education in climate change soon. The two GOP candidates agreed last week to meet with a group of 15 South Florida mayors concerned about climate change’s impact on their state and on the country as a whole. The mayors had sent letters to Rubio and Bush in late January, urging the candidates to “acknowledge the reality and urgency of climate change” and asking them to take meetings with them to discuss climate change. One of the mayors — Cindy Lerner of Pinecrest, Florida — journeyed to New Hampshire last week, and questioned both candidates about the letters during town hall events.
“I know that they know the science we are relying on,” Lerner told ThinkProgress of the two candidates, both of whom have political histories in Florida. Bush served as governor of the state from 1999 to 2007, and Rubio is a U.S. senator from Florida. Florida’s university system is heavily involved in climate science, so these two candidates should have a good understanding of the issue, Lerner said.
“To have especially Marco, who is in such denial, ignore the very academic institutions that he has supported, funded, and worked with for more than a decade is really ridiculous, quite frankly,” she said. So, Lerner and the other 14 mayors from South Florida decided to call the two GOP candidates on their refusal to take climate change seriously — first, with the letters, and then with Lerner questioning them in-person.
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The mayors’ expectation, she said, is that they will get a meeting time with both candidates before Florida’s primary on March 15. Climate change and the sea level rise that accompanies it is a high priority for local officials and constituents in southeast Florida, Lerner said, so voters need to know how the two candidates plan to address it if they become president. South Florida’s proximity to the coast and its porous ground make it particularly vulnerable to sea level rise, and already some cities are experiencing high-tide flooding that fills streets with water.
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http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/02/08/3747130/bush-rubio-agree-to-meet-with-florida-mayors/