Trump border wall and government shutdown threaten promising Everglades solutions

01-16-19 ryan fisher photo at everglades conference by zak bennet, daily mail cropped

Ryan Fisher, the US Army official who oversees the Corps of Engineers, speaking at the 34th Annual Everglades Coalition Conference at Hawks Cay Resort in Duck Key, Fla., on Saturday, Jan. 12. (Photo by Zack Bennet for The Daily Mail)

Today is day 27 of the Trump government shutdown

Jan. 17, 2019 by David Silverberg

Southwest Florida could be on the path to environmental renewal—but White House decisions are threatening its brightening plans and prospects.

On the positive side:

Ron DeSantis (R) has clearly heard the call and responded to the area’s (and all of Florida’s) environmental needs with what are widely regarded as bold proposals that have drawn praise across the board. On Jan. 10 he issued executive orders that:
- Provide $2.5 billion over the next four years for Everglades restoration and protection of water resources;
- Establish a Blue-Green Algae Task Force for the next five years to examine and expedite reduction of algae blooms;
- Immediately start the next phase of the Everglades Agricultural Area Storage Reservoir Project design and ensuring that the US Army Corps of Engineers approves the project according to schedule;
- Create an Office of Environmental Accountability and Transparency to organize and direct environmental research and analysis and coordinate government actions;
- Appoint a Chief Science Officer to coordinate and prioritize scientific data, research, monitoring and analysis.

After eight years of environmental neglect and disparagement by his predecessor, Rick Scott, these were bold proposals indeed.

01-10-19 prof. bill mitsch cropped — **Prof. Bill Mitsch**

Dovetailing with DeSantis’ proposals, closer to home Prof. Bill Mitsch, a world-class wetlands expert at Florida Gulf Coast University, revealed both the cause of red tide and a proposed cure at a lecture he delivered on Jan. 10:

Mitsch’s research revealed that the chief culprit feeding red tide was nitrate fertilizer—after years of debate and finger-pointing, the first time the source had been so authoritatively identified;
Also contributing to red tide is nitrate-laden rainfall, much of it caused by cars using I-75. Additionally, leaking septic tanks and pollution flowing from the Mississippi River drifting across the Gulf of Mexico feed the naturally-occurring Karenia brevis organisms.

To overcome this pollution and prevent future red tides, or at least mitigate their impact, Mitsch asserted that research has shown existing or newly-created wetlands can remove much of the pollution. Mitsch calls this “wetlaculture”—deliberately cultivated wetlands. What is more, he argued that it can be done in a commercially sustainable way that benefits both farmers and the environment. Experiments to prove the concept are already under way and can be seen at a site in the northwest corner of Naples’ Freedom Park.

01-16-19 wetlaculture mesocosms

The site of experimental water-cleaning “mesocosms” (the tufts of grass in tubs behind the fence) in Naples’ Freedom Park. (Photo by author)

Analysis

Both DeSantis’ political program and Mitsch’s scientific proposal are promising ideas that could have a major, long-term positive impact. The large-scale success of both, however, rest on a major need: funding. And when it comes to looking to the federal government for that funding, it may not be there.

While DeSantis’ pledge of $2.5 billion for Everglades restoration is commendable, he was not specific in stating where he was going to get the money. He just directed the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Health, Visit Florida and the Department of Economic Opportunity to “secure” it over the next four years.

There’s nothing wrong with that; such details always need to be hashed out once an idea is publicly unveiled. When he presents his first budget to the legislature we’ll see how he intends to implement it.

But it seems unlikely that the entire $2.5 billion can come from state coffers. DeSantis is no doubt counting on a portion of it to come from the federal government.

Mitsch’s idea similarly requires an initial investment. While wetlaculture holds great promise, he cautioned that it takes time.

“Wetland restoration and creation are not easy,” Mitsch warned in his lecture. “They require attention to Mother Nature (self-design) and Father Time (projects take time to reach their potential).” Indeed, under Mitsch’s proposal, restorative wetlands would take 10 years to mature before they could be “flipped” and farmed for the next five years after which they would be flipped again.

Further, the Mitsch proposal must be implemented on a massive scale. He estimates that it would take 100,000 acres of wetlaculture to ensure clean water to the Everglades—14 times more than is currently included in reservoir plans.

Mitsch admitted that creating these kinds of cleansing wetlands would take money to accomplish and while he didn’t mention figures, he also said he didn’t trust the state government to do what was necessary.

“We need the feds to keep an eye on our state government,” he said.

Indeed, such a plan, while very attractive for many reasons, would take a significant initial investment that only the federal government can provide.

Commentary

While both plans finally come to grips with south Florida’s environmental crisis they both need federal money and they’re both being proposed just at the moment when the federal government itself is in crisis (and closed, as of this writing).

What is more, President Donald Trump’s insistence on a border wall is already having an impact on Everglades restoration.

In one instance, Ryan Fisher, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for public works, who oversees the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), told Britain’s Daily Mail that if Trump were to declare a national emergency to build his border wall, it would take funds from non-essential projects like Everglades restoration. “’Look, we’re facing a national security issue. We’re waiting for more orders.” he told reporter Zak Bennet.

“I shouldn’t make any comments on the wall because I might find that I’m contradicting myself as soon as I check the news on my phone,” Fisher told the 34th Annual Everglades Coalition Conference at Hawks Cay Resort in Duck Key, Fla., on Saturday, Jan. 12. “But the president has asked us whether, if he declares the wall an emergency, we’d be ready. We assured him we’d be ready.”

At that point “We would need to decide whether other civil works projects are not essential to national defense,” Fisher said as some activists grumbled.

Emergency border wall funding would also take disaster recovery funds from Florida, Puerto Rico, Texas and California, all still recovering from local disasters.

Even DeSantis had to dissent from that scenario, his closeness to Trump notwithstanding.

“We have people counting on that [funding],” he told reporters. “If they backfill it immediately after the government opens, that’s fine but I don’t want that to be where that money is not available for us.”

Conclusion

Southwest Floridians should not think that they’re unaffected by both the government shutdown and Trump’s obsessive pursuit of a border wall. These are clear examples of the local damage his behavior and erratic decisionmaking is causing.

Just days after they were proposed, Trump cast uncertainty onto environmental solutions that Southwest Florida desperately needs. It’s up to Florida’s officials and citizens to ensure that this flawed thinking doesn’t go from the conceptual stage to the point where it kills essential funding and the damage on the ground becomes real, physical and permanent.

Liberty lives in light

Historic day in SWFL as region tackles red tide response

01-10-19 red tide lecture pano

Attendees at Prof. Bill Mitsch’s FGCU lecture on the causes and cures of red tide. (Photo by author)

Jan. 11, 2019 by David Silverberg

Yesterday, Jan. 10, 2019, was a red tide—and red letter—day in Southwest Florida.

It wasn’t because there was red tide on the beaches—there wasn’t. But red tide was on everyone’s mind. And it is no exaggeration to call the day “historic” for its implications for the region.

In the morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) came to Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) in Bonita Springs to announce a comprehensive package of environmental measures to address the region’s environmental crisis and needs, marking a complete and radical change from the policies of his predecessor, Rick Scott.
At noon, Jack Wert, executive director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Sandra Stilwell Youngquist, CEO and owner of Stilwell Enterprises and Restaurant Group based on Captiva Island, delivered a report to the Naples Press Club on the economic impact of the summer’s red tide crisis on tourism, hospitality and local business and the measures taken to deal with it.
In the evening, Prof. Bill Mitsch, director of the Everglades Wetland Research Park at FGCU and a world-renowned wetlands expert, delivered a lecture on the causes of and solutions to red tide and harmful algal blooms in which he revealed the “smoking gun” causing red tide. He also unveiled an innovative proposal that promises to both combat future pollution and provide fresh, clean water to the Everglades in an economically viable and constructive way.

It was a big data dump with major implications for the Paradise Coast. We’ll be examining each of these of events in detail in future postings.

Suffice to say for now that for the first time in a long time, amidst all of Southwest Florida’s sunshine, there are some rays of hope.

Liberty lives in light

Sworn in as governor, DeSantis pledges Trump-like agenda

Ron DeSantis is sworn in as Florida’s governor in Tallahassee on Jan. 8.

Jan. 9, 2019 by David Silverberg

Sworn in yesterday as the 46th governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis made his priorities known in his inaugural speech.

The speech followed fairly standard forms and showed little originality or new departures. As a protege and creature of President Donald Trump, DeSantis leaned heavily toward the Trumpist playbook. However, some items stood out as being of particular relevance to Southwest Florida.

In a rare departure from the Trumpist agenda, he acknowledged the importance of environmental stewardship, which is barely an afterthought for Trump and had previously held a low priority for Gov. Rick Scott. “For Florida, the quality of our water and environmental surroundings are foundational to our prosperity as a state—it doesn’t just drive tourism; it affects property values, anchors many local economies and is central to our quality of life. The water is part and parcel of Florida’s DNA. Protecting it is the smart thing to do; it’s also the right thing to do,” DeSantis said.
In discussing the environment, DeSantis waxed positively Churchillian in his promises: “We will fight toxic blue-green algae, we will fight discharges from Lake Okeechobee, we will fight red tide, we will fight for our fishermen, we will fight for our beaches, we will fight to restore our Everglades and we will never ever quit, we won’t be cowed and we won’t let the foot draggers stand in our way.” While he didn’t say he would never surrender, he did resolve “to leave Florida to God better than we found it” (which sounds as if it’s about to revert back to God sooner than we might prefer).
On education, he called for greater emphasis on vocational, technical and “skill-based” education, particularly in computer science and technology. He stated that “our education system needs to empower parents to choose the best possible school for their children”—a seeming endorsement of private, charter and for-profit schools, although he also said that educational opportunities “must extend to every Floridian regardless of race, color or creed.” If it was not a condemnation of public education neither was it a ringing endorsement.
On health care he stated: “The escalating cost of medical care, prescription drugs and health insurance has wreaked havoc on family budgets, priced many out of the market entirely, and has put significant stress on our state budget. The current system is riddled with perverse incentives, intrudes on the doctor-patient relationship and is mired in bureaucracy and red tape. The people of Florida deserve relief.” Presumably more specific plans to do this will be forthcoming in the days ahead.
He really came out swinging against the judiciary: “for far too long Florida has seen judges expand their power beyond proper constitutional bounds” he said and he vowed: “judicial activism ends, right here and right now. I will only appoint judges who understand the proper role of the courts is to apply the law and Constitution as written, not to legislate from the bench. The Constitution, not the judiciary, is supreme.”
He said he would stand with people in law enforcement and work to keep schools and communities safe, although there was not a hint of gun regulation. In supporting the rule of law, he vowed: “We won’t allow sanctuary cities. And we will stop incentivizing illegal immigration.”

Commentary

None of this came as any surprise.

All Floridians should carefully watch DeSantis’ environmental policymaking and actions to see if he really means what he says on this issue and walks the walk. A good and easy starting point for DeSantis would be to publicly lift Rick Scott’s previous ban on use of the term “climate change” by state employees.

Supporters of public education need to very much monitor DeSantis’ education moves. The public education system is under threat and pressure from the for-profit education industry and the anti-public school movement.

Immigrants of all stripes and undocumented aliens can expect state crackdowns alongside the federal anti-immigration effort. This will primarily affect the state’s agricultural enterprises, including those in Southwest Florida. The loss of cheap, undocumented labor will probably result in rising food prices from the field to the fork. On this, it’s hard to discern any difference between DeSantis’ and Trump’s positions.

As for sanctuary cities, there are none in Florida. Only the Florida counties of Alachua and Clay have demurred from assisting federal enforcement actions, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, a restricted-immigration advocacy organization. DeSantis’ pledge was a solution in search of a problem.

Conclusion

It’s going to be a long four years.

Liberty lives in light

Rep. Kathy Castor introduces Florida Coastal Protection Act to ban offshore oil exploration and drilling

In a 2010 news conference following the Deepwater Horizon disaster and oil spill, Rep. Kathy Castor calls for holding oil companies responsible for environmental damage. (Photo: Office of Rep. Castor)

Jan. 8, 2019 by David Silverberg

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-14-Fla.) has reintroduced the Florida Coastal Protection Act to make permanent the moratorium on offshore oil drilling that is set to expire in 2022. As of this writing, the bill has yet to receive a number or be referred to a committee.

“Here in Florida, we’re keenly aware of the devastating impacts of oil and gas drilling off our shores,” Castor said according to a statement issued by her office. “Our state’s vital natural resources – and our state’s economy – cannot risk the devastation brought by blowouts, nor can it afford the high costs of carbon pollution. We have an obligation to act now to protect our beautiful Florida coastline, our economy and our future.”

State waters begin at the state’s shores and extend to three miles into the Atlantic Ocean and nine miles into the Gulf. The Florida Coastal Protection Act extends the recently approved state moratorium to federal waters.

Castor was joined by Reps. Charlie Crist (D-13-Fla.), Vern Buchanan (R-16-Fla.) and Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.).

According to Castor’s statement, the moratorium currently in place protects waters up to 235 miles off the west coast of Florida from oil drilling and will expire in June 2022 unless made permanent.

Rooney, who joined Castor in her 2017 effort to pass the same legislation is supporting her again. “The people of Florida are clearly opposed to offshore drilling,” Castor’s statement quoted him saying. “The November 2018 ballot contained a ban on offshore drilling, Amendment 9, which won with over 68 percent in favor. This widespread support is a clear indication that voters are overwhelmingly in support of Florida coastal protection. As Floridians, we are well aware that our livelihood depends on a pristine environment.”

Rooney’s efforts to stop offshore oil exploration and drilling were thwarted in the 115th Congress by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-1-La.), the House Majority Whip and a leading proponent of oil and gas interests.

In addition to Rooney, Rep. Crist stated: “Florida voters spoke clearly in November: no drilling off our coasts. Our job is to be their voice in Washington, sending that same message loud and clear with this bill to block harmful drilling and exploration off of Florida. We cannot afford another disaster devastating our waters, health, and economy.”

Rep. Buchanan stated: “Allowing drilling off of Florida’s pristine coasts would be a colossal mistake. Red tide has already plagued the Sunshine State – it would be imprudent to invite the potential for another catastrophic oil spill that would devastate Florida’s economy and environment. As co-chair of the Florida congressional delegation, I will continue working with colleagues in both parties to protect the state’s beautiful coasts and waters.”

Analysis

Castor introduced the same bill in April 2017, a companion to a measure introduced by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in the Senate. In the House, the standalone measure remained in committee but became a proposed amendment to the Defense Authorization bill. However, House Republicans would not allow it to come to a vote.

This year Castor is introducing it in a Democratic House and she chairs the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, so it has a much better chance of advancing in the chamber.

Liberty lives in light

SWFL could have an important friend in the new Congress

01-04-19 rep. kathy castor

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-14-Fla.) (center). (Photo: Office of Rep. Kathy Castor)

Jan. 7, 2019 by David Silverberg

So far the most exciting thing to come out of the new Congress specifically for Southwest Florida is the appointment of Rep. Kathy Castor (D-14-Fla.) to head the new House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

In Castor, the Florida Gulf coast gets a member of Congress in an influential position who is intimately familiar with the region’s environmental needs and challenges. This could be a major asset for the region.

Castor’s commitment

Castor is a six-term representative with a long record of environmental activism. Before being elected to Congress in 2006 she worked as a lawyer doing environmental work and served as a Hillsborough County commissioner, where she also concentrated on environmental issues.

In Congress she did environmental messaging work for the Democrats as co chair of the House Democratic Environmental Message Team. That team put out a report called Trump’s Toxic Team, detailing environmental violations, corruption and abuse by administration officials. In appointing her, House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-12-Calif.) called her “a proven champion for public health and green infrastructure” and “an outstanding leader on the Energy and Commerce Committee and on the House Democratic Environmental Message Team.”

Her district encompasses Tampa and Hillsborough County and has had more than its share of environmental crises. There was the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its aftermath, as well as red tide during the past summer. Although red tide levels in Hillsborough County didn’t reach the level of those in Lee and Collier counties, it nonetheless presented a problem for the district—so Castor knows red tide and its consequences.

Castor also worked across the aisle with Rep. Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.) when he joined her last year in attempting to introduce an amendment to the Defense authorization bill that would have made the oil drilling moratorium in the eastern Gulf of Mexico permanent. That effort was quashed by the House Republican leadership, which would not allow it to come to a vote.

The Green New Deal and the new select committee

In Congress, a “select” committee is one with a special purpose whose members are specially selected to sit on it. It can’t pass legislation or issue subpoenas, which makes it a less powerful form of committee than a “standing” committee, which is permanent and does pass legislation. A select committee is also temporary and can be dissolved after its mission is completed.

The Climate Crisis Committee is also less expansive and powerful than the Green New Deal select committee that was sought by environmental activists in Congress like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-14-NY).

The Green New Deal is a sweeping set of proposals to remake society in a more environmentally friendly way. While the concept continues to evolve, it has four basic pillars, according to the US Green Party version of it:

A new economic bill of rights;
A transition from dirty technologies to environmentally friendly ones (to make the United States emission-free in 12 years);
Financial reform;
Democratic reforms like overturning the Citizens United decision.

In an effort to promote a Green New Deal select committee, on Nov. 13 supporters demonstrated outside Rep. Pelosi’s office on Capitol Hill. Among their demands was that members of the committee not have accepted donations from the fossil fuel industry.

Pelosi would not endorse the full Green New Deal program or a select committee specifically devoted to it. Nor would she agree to excluding fossil fuel-accepting members. However, she did agree to revive an environmental select committee, hence the creation of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

Even though the new select committee is less powerful and its mandate less sweeping than Green New Deal advocates had hoped, it puts Castor in an outsize position to influence the House leadership and the entire Democratic caucus. This is especially useful when key pieces of legislation and appropriations affecting Southwest Florida come up—and they will, particularly when it comes to environmental matters.

The question is: What is it that Southwest Florida needs from Congress, particularly on environmental issues? Once SWFL has a list of priorities, it can seek Castor’s help in pursuing them.

Commentary

The new Congress’ first priority is to end Trump’s shutdown of the government. It has already passed legislation to do so, which Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he will not consider.

Presuming a compromise is found and government is functioning again, the new Democratic House has myriad issues to pursue and SWFL could get lost in the shuffle. It should not allow that to happen.

SWFL needs money to make up its economic losses from last year’s red tide crisis. It needs to shore up its infrastructure against climate change and that includes fortifying itself against hurricanes and preparing for sea level rise. It needs to make the eastern Gulf oil drilling moratorium permanent. Along with the rest of South Florida it needs to restore the Everglades and complete the projects already being planned.

Congress should be able to help with all these issues. Fortunately, in Castor, the region should have an influential friend who can help it do it. But SWFL needs to be organized and lobby hard if it’s going make any progress.

(Note: We have reached out to Rep. Castor to get direct comment and learn her plans and priorities. This story will be updated when we get a response.)

Liberty lives in light

The greenwashing of Francis Rooney

1-3-19 Greenwashing Mother Jones

Tom Sawyer greenwashes a fence. (Art: Mother Jones)

315 days since Francis Rooney has appeared in an open, public forum

Jan. 3, 2019, by David Silverberg

Sensing a change in the wind—and the transition to a Democratic House of Representatives—Rep. Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.) seems to have decided to change tack and espouse environmentalism, a practice derisively known among environmental activists as “greenwashing.”

This represents a complete change of direction from his prior positions denying climate change and staunchly supporting President Donald Trump’s exploitation-driven environmental agenda.

Just how real is Rooney’s conversion? We will see by his actions and voting record in the new, 116th Congress, which takes office today.

The background

While Rooney has expressed concern for restoring the Everglades since his 2016 primary run, his voting record on environmental issues during his first term in office earned him a zero percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters and he consistently voted for measures that were regarded as polluting and environmentally unfriendly.

He vocally supported President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. At a town hall in Bonita Springs on May 31, 2017, Rooney stated that he did so despite the threat to Southwest Florida from sea level rise.

“We definitely need to learn all we can about why these sea levels are rising. I’m just not sure how much is man-made and how much is not,” he said. “I think that there is very complex issues surrounding global warming. Sea levels have been rising since the ice age.”

Written words don’t convey the dismissiveness of that statement at the time.

He repeated this assertion in subsequent town halls.

At a town hall in North Naples on March 3, 2017, Rooney stated that the Environmental Protection Agency must be “reined in.”

During his primary run in 2016, he refused to sign a Now-or-NeverGlades petition to allow nutrient-heavy water to flow south to The Everglades.

In addition to his positions and votes during his first term in office, his businesses, Rooney Holdings and Manhattan Construction, are heavily invested in fossil fuel and oil-related construction and infrastructure. In his first run for office he was backed by XL Group, the builders of the XL Pipeline, according to OpenSecrets.org.

According to an October 2, 2018 article by RL Miller on the website ClimateHawksVote.com: “Rooney came into Congress in 2017 holding the largest stake in the fossil fuel industry among incoming freshmen, according to E&E News. He sat on the board of two oil companies for the three years immediately prior to his election: Laredo Petroleum (where he still owns stock valued between $500,000 and $1,000,000), and Helmerich & Payne, an oil drilling firm (where his stock holdings are valued at $250,000 to $500,000). Rooney also remains an owner of Manhattan Construction, a $1 billion family-owned business that counts oil and gas drilling as part of its portfolio. According to E&E News, he owned stock in over two dozen more fossil fuel businesses.”

Additionally, during the 2018 red tide/algae bloom crisis in SWFL, Rooney was virtually invisible in taking action or even demonstrating care and concern for the people and businesses affected. He proposed no legislative or other solutions.

Rooney’s environmental record, his seeming indifference to the suffering brought on by the red tide crisis and his pro-Trump positions left him open to criticism and attacks during the 2018 midterm election. Late in the election cycle he joined the Climate Solutions Caucus in Congress, a group regarded by environmental activists as designed to provide environment-friendly cover to members of Congress who need that credential.

Having won his 2018 re-election, Rooney now appears to be attempting to position himself as a “green Republican.”

Rooney is playing up his cosponsorship of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (House Resolution 7173), which would progressively tax the carbon content of fuels in an effort to hold down emissions. It would be imposed on “producers and importers of the fuels and is equal to the greenhouse gas content of the fuel multiplied by the carbon fee rate.” That fee would start at $15 per ton in 2019 and rise by $10 every year thereafter until carbon emission targets are met. (A summary of the bill is available here.)

The bill was introduced on Nov. 27 by Florida Democrat Rep. Ted Deutch (22nd District) in the very waning days of the congressional session. Deutch, the sponsor, was joined by nine other cosponsors including Rooney. The lateness of the bill’s introduction meant that it had virtually no chance of passage whatsoever. According to Rooney, it will be introduced again in the new Congress.

Rooney’s cosponsorship of HR 7173 is being portrayed in various media—and by Rooney himself—as a major, radical break with conservative Republican orthodoxy, since it proposes a tax, which is anathema to elements of the party, and acknowledges climate change. “I’ll take some heat from our area to do this,” he said.

In an article the Naples Daily News titled “Francis Rooney talks about the GOP and climate change” by reporter Ledyard King that ran on the USA TODAY network, King called Rooney “a vanishing breed on Capitol Hill: a pro-Trump Republican member of Congress who advocates dramatic steps to address human-caused climate change by ending America’s dependence on coal.”

Rooney told King his main focus is to shut down coal-fueled power plants and that’s what HR 7173 primarily does. “There’s no reason to burn coal,” he said.

Also, in a head-spinning turnaround, for the first time Rooney acknowledged that there may indeed be man-made climate change by saying he accepts the results of the Fourth National Climate Assessment on climate change and that Republicans should be less ideological in their opposition to the notion.

“I tell [Republican colleagues] try to look a little more broadly and less ideologically about it. For a lot of Republicans, climate change has become an ideological thing instead of a science-based thing. Let’s look at the science,” he’s quoted as saying.

Coming from Rooney, looking at the science is indeed breaking news.

Analysis

By cosponsoring HR 7173 and going on what amounts to a “green offensive” Rooney appears to be swinging for a political grand slam.

Rooney is putting some daylight between himself and President Donald Trump by breaking with Trump’s dismissal of climate change as a hoax and Trump’s promotion of coal as a fuel. No doubt Rooney hopes this will serve him well in a Democratic House of Representatives where he will be in the minority. This is in contrast to his first term when Rooney served as a vocal Trumpist and voted with Trump 97 percent of the time. Trump was so pleased with Rooney’s defenses of Trump himself and his policies that he singled him out for praise during his rally in Fort Myers on Halloween. “He’s brutal,” Trump said of Rooney. “He gets the job done.”
By breaking with Trump and climate change-denying Republicans, Rooney is shoring up his environmental vulnerabilities that were exposed during the midterm election campaign. After the red tide/algae bloom disaster of the past summer and his non-response, Rooney clearly wants to build an image as a “green Republican,” and that will take some major revisions in his past positions. Also, his polling no doubt showed that environmental concerns were top of mind for Southwest Floridians and he realizes that they’re a way to reach a younger constituency that is “more environmentally sensitive” as he put it.
Rooney’s cosponsorship of HR 7173 and his attacks on coal are particularly interesting. Yes, coal is a very dirty and polluting fuel. But these may not only be disinterested actions aimed at protecting the environment—rather, the taxes proposed in the bill will serve to cripple a fossil fuel that competes with oil and gas, in which Rooney is heavily invested. In his interview Rooney highlighted natural gas as a cleaner fuel but his main focus was on the need to stop the expansion of the coal industry, which Trump favors. Coal burning is not only bad for the environment, it’s bad for oil and gas profits and since there are no coal interests anywhere in Florida that could bite back, opposing coal brings no local negative repercussions and works to Rooney’s personal advantage. It also bears noting that nowhere in his interview did Rooney mention renewable energy sources like solar or wind.

As for the downsides of this new policy flip, there are virtually none: far from taking “some heat from our area” for his new positions, Rooney’s new stance is likely to be largely ignored by the vast majority of Southwest Floridians and accepted at face value by an uncritical media. He may face some chiding from his former companions in the more extreme elements of the Republican congressional caucus in Washington DC, but with them out of power in the House and their influence apparently eroding by the day, there’s not much price to be paid by breaking out of the pack.

Conclusion

Far from being what Ledyard King characterized as “a vanishing breed on Capitol Hill,” Rooney looks to be the first of a new breed of Republicans who realize that buying into the Trumpvironment is bad for one’s political health.

It’s also objectively bad for the natural environment and peoples’ health, habitation and businesses—an indisputable fact that was brought home for Southwest Florida in last year’s environmental disaster.

Rooney is at the cutting edge of what will likely be a growing—not diminishing—number of Republicans who realize that denying climate change, adhering to President Trump’s environmental agenda and rolling back environmental protections is a losing hand, especially in what is going to be a very environmentally active House of Representatives. Their defection from Trumpvironmentalism will be accelerated if Trump is impeached or loses influence in Congress as he’s already doing.

But this trend must be confirmed by actions and votes. Southwest Floridians cannot simply accept Rooney statements at face value. Last term Rooney was aided by general indifference to his actions in Congress and the media’s failure to scrutinize them. In this term his every action, statement and vote must be carefully monitored and evaluated.

It’s not enough to say that you’re green. You have to prove it—and Rooney ain’t there yet.