GUEST EDITORIAL: What's the next step on climate change?

When it comes to climate change, there’s been a sea change in Florida politics.

The new attitude starts at the top, where Gov. Ron DeSantis last month appointed the state’s first Chief Science Officer to find “science-based solutions” to environmental concerns, particularly the blue-green algae and red tide outbreaks that have tarnished Florida’s cache.

Now the governor is advertising for a Chief Resilience Officer (CRO), someone who will work to “prepare Florida for the environmental, physical and economic impacts of climate change, especially sea-level rise.”

The new positions represent a watershed moment in a state with more to lose than any other. It feels like that moment in the Wizard of Oz, where the movie turns from black-and-white to color. That both offices will be housed in the governor’s suite — and report directly to DeSantis — sends a serious message.

With the exception of House Speaker José Oliva , Florida’s Republican leaders no longer deny the reality of climate change, which every major scientific organization recognizes is real, is exacerbated by human activity and poses an existential threat.

“Climate change isn’t something people get to choose to believe or not, it’s happening,” U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz said in a recent interview with Vice. “I can tell the earth is warming based on overwhelming scientific evidence, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we’ve released like 300 years of carbon in the last several decades.”

A sense of optimism is emerging among Florida scientists, environmentalists and government officials who have spent the past eight years frustrated by the Scott administration’s head-in-the-sand approach to the rising waters, extreme rainfalls and more-powerful hurricanes on the radar.

But while encouraged, they’re also reserving judgment. For while DeSantis pushed the Florida Legislature to find $686 million for Everglades repair, Lake Okeechobee fixes and springs restoration — all important elements of the climate-change picture — his muscle was missing behind a bill that would have required state contractors to consider sea-level projections when building in coastal areas.

And in a record-setting $91 billion state budget, only $26 million was set aside to address county water projects related to sea-level rise, such as stormwater drainage, canal erosion and failing septic tanks. Of that, Palm Beach County is poised to get $1.26 million for four small projects; Miami-Dade will get $5.4 million for 16 projects; and Broward, which always draws the short straw, will get $700,000 for three small projects.

But let’s cut the governor a break. He just took office in January. And his environmental secretary, Noah Valenstein, was key to helping advance the sea-level rise planning bill through two Senate committees, though it never reached the floor.

Under Gov. DeSantis, Florida’s story on the climate crisis is starting a new chapter.

The governor is to be commended for creating these two cornerstone positions.

As he pursues more building blocks needed to protect our future, we encourage him to remain bold.

A version of this editorial originally appeared in the Palm Beach Post.

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: GUEST EDITORIAL: What's the next step on climate change?