To Stay Blue, Florida Must Vote Blue
If you thought the biggest threat to our favorite pastime was another COVID-19 lockdown, think again.
While most of us were stuck inside waiting for Florida beaches to reopen this spring, the Trump administration was quietly continuing its assault on laws designed to protect our coastline. One might wonder how suspending the enforcement of EPA regulations has anything to do with stopping a global pandemic, but this was just one of the many surprise rollbacks the administration has slid under the table in the last four years.
As surfers and water people, we know how acutely sensitive our favorite spots are to environmental conditions. From massive algae blooms to the toxic runoff lurking behind the Sebastian Inlet, humanity's impact on nature is obvious to us. Donald Trump and his administration, however, continue to question the effects of industry on the environment to this day. Contrary to what Trump himself thinks, science does in fact know—with an uncontroversial 97% certainty. And no, it's not a hoax created by the Chinese.
Florida is uniquely positioned to experience the worst effects of sea level rise, as well as warmer oceans and stronger storms. While Miami was recently named the “Most Vulnerable” coastal city in the world, South Florida’s most notorious developer continues to build on his list of almost 100 environmental rollbacks. And with the election fast approaching, he’s doing whatever he can to hide the damage from Florida voters. What does the nation’s oldest environmental protection organization think of it all? In response to the Trump campaign’s recent shtick at Jupiter Inlet, the political director of the Sierra Club said, “Failing to adequately fund Everglades restoration, attempting to sell off our waters to corporate polluters and rolling back more than 100 environmental protections doesn’t make you anything other than the worst president ever for the environment and climate.”
With an EPA infiltrated by fossil fuel industry lobbyists, the Trump administration has turned a complete 180 from the conservation efforts of the Obama-Biden years. In 2018 Trump revoked Obama's oceans policy, which was aptly called Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes. He replaced it with a plan that completely fails to address conservation and drops the previous emphasis on data collection and science. After the Obama administration expanded protections for federal wetlands in 2015, Trump vowed to reverse the rule in a bid toward farmers and property developers like himself. His administration has since cut the number of protected wetlands in half, opening 6 million acres in Florida alone to destruction and pollution. This move increases the likelihood of flooding and drinking water contamination for the state's coastal communities. And yet when his own properties are in danger, Trump has no problem building sea walls that destroy local surf breaks. This June he also signed a proclamation allowing large-scale commercial fishing to begin in the only protected marine sanctuary in the Atlantic, which was also created during the Obama administration.
The United States has the opportunity to be a leader in the fight against environmental degradation. Unable to accept science and empathize with coastal voters, Donald Trump has failed magnificently in seizing this opportunity, instead dragging us backward for the last four years. Vice President Biden on the other hand has vowed to enact the most progressive climate plan in American history, and to do so with the guidance of a task force that follows science. If you spend any time in the ocean you know how important this distinction is for our and our kids' futures in the water. Make sure you have a plan to vote on election day if you haven’t voted already, and remember to vote blue.