With climate change coming to the forefront of political movements, cities such as New York and Atlantic City, which are highly vulnerable to climate change, may see the issue transforming their statewide politics. Number two on the list of cities most vulnerable to climate change is Miami. In fact, 22 of the 25 cities most at risk for rising seas and changing temperatures reside in Florida. This is big news for the state and could push it to vote blue next November to focus on policymakers that will work to protect its delicate coastline.
Hurricanes routinely batter the state as a reminder of climate change’s impending threats, yet only 1% of the sunshine state’s energy comes from solar sources and its senators such as Mark Rubio routinely downplay the importance of emissions reductions. The state favored Donald Trump by 22 points in 2016, but political change is propagating from the local level. Ft. Meyers representative Francis Rooney is a republican but has advocated for carbon pricing and Democratic congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell was elected in 2018 on a platform of addressing environmental issues such as red tides and decimated fisheries.
Florida’s 13 million purple voters have routinely swung between voting left and right, but with climate change standing menacingly at their doorstep, Floridians could vote blue in the 2020 elections to save the Earth, and themselves.
