Currents August 2019 August 2019_Currents Web | Page 3

Currents August 2019 3 Surprise M DeSantis other Jones had a good early take on the new generation of GOP. On paper, Ron DeSantis looked like an environmental dis- aster waiting to happen. During his 2018 campaign to be Florida’s next governor, the Republican candidate dodged questions about whether humans are caus- ing climate change and he became a clear favorite of Presi- dent Donald Trump. He also offered a less-than-stellar history on environmental issues as a for- mer member of the US House of Representatives: voting to expand US drilling operations and against a carbon tax, and only voting in favor of the environment in four out of a possible 204 times, according to the League of Conservation Voters. Although he claimed that restoring the Florida Everglades was a priority while campaigning, his record prompted state Democrats to label DeSantis a “sham environ- mentalist.” “He had an abysmal voting record in Congress,” Frank Jack- alone, director of the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club, tells Mother Jones. “He voted against the environment 98 percent of the time. That’s bad, even for a Republican, considering that he was in Congress for six years.” But since taking office, the self-described “Teddy Roosevelt conservationist” has been some- what of a pleasant surprise. Even as his comrades at the national level have pushed for environ- mental deregulation, imposed budget cuts for environmental programs, and actively censored climate science, DeSantis appears to have broken away from the Republican pack. DeSantis also spent time on the trail openly criticizing the sugar industry, which had been blamed for Florida’s algal blooms, and he refused to accept any donations from it. In an op-ed published in the Sun-Sentinel just days before he was set to take the oath of office, DeSantis promised citizens he’d follow through on his campaign pledges, specifically calling atten- tion to the environment: “I will ful- fill promises from the campaign trail. That means prioritizing envi- ronmental issues, like water qual- ity and cleaning the environmen- tal mess that has resulted in toxic blue-green algae and exacer- bated red tide around the state,” he wrote. “We will put Everglades restoration into high gear and make it the reality that Floridians continued on page 5 > S TOP Y OUR W INDOW L EAK P ROBLEMS Be Hu Prepa re rr Fi x you icane d for t r W Sea he NO indow son W! Lea ks Dried out gaskets and window stripping will cause window leaks. I have the proper window stripping to repair all types of windows. I also do Screening, Wrol-up Repair and Sliding Glass Doors. E FRE ATES M I EST C ALL P ATRICK Cell No. 954-829-4348 [email protected] FPL Independent Participating Contractor 3621 Washington Street • Hollywood, FL 33021