Florida’s Legislature must move faster to address extreme weather threats | Guest Opinion

It was September in Florida. School was back in swing, Saturdays were rowdy with football games, and our impossibly blue coastal waters were sprinkled with pleasure boats — until Hurricane Ian brought normal life to an abrupt end.

After the Category 4 storm tore from the Gulf of Mexico northwest across Florida, my family in St. Petersburg woke up to the drone of generators and chainsaws as my neighbors cleared debris from palm trees, piers and porches and hauled all their spoiled ice cream and condiments to the trash.

Our prayers were with our neighbors. To the south, in Naples and Fort Myers, families had lost everything to storm surge, and in Orlando and Jacksonville, flooding overwhelmed storm systems and roads and ravaged homes. A mere 34 days later, Hurricane Nicole delivered a second punch to our state, and we watched homes in Volusia County crumble into the sea.

Climate change is making these storms more severe. The warmth that defines us as Floridians has been displaced by worry. Thirty years ago, Hurricane Andrew cast shadows across the Sunshine State, too, but our leaders took action, adopting world class, wind-resistant building codes already credited with sparing many homes and businesses during Ian’s onslaught.

Our generation’s storms show we once again need the focused resolve of Florida’s Legislature to address the volatile weather events, rising insurance rates and national security risks brought on by a destabilized climate.

As we rebuild, we must go beyond wind- and flood-proofing our buildings. We should look toward Babcock Ranch in Charlotte County as an example of how resilient we can be when we are powering communities with clean, affordable energy. By leveraging the federal government’s recent historic action on climate, presenting opportunities for funding, we can build the future Florida needs.

This wave of private and public investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency can help forge a new path for Florida families and businesses already suffering from historic electric rate increases approved last year. In just a few weeks, the Public Service Commission will again be asked to cost-shift $3.5 billion in natural gas rate hikes to customers while protecting corporate utility profits.

Seventy-one percent of Florida voters support expanded use of solar energy because they understand that renewable energy doesn’t suffer from the fossil fuel price roller coaster — because wind and sun are free. A recent report by the investment bank Guggenheim Securities found that utility-scale solar is now about a third cheaper than gas-fired power.

Hurricane Ian and the storms that will follow are delivering the same message — that Florida must move faster to change the trajectory of the extreme weather that is endangering our families and our economy.

Florida’s leaders can deliver big during the coming legislative session by keeping rooftop solar accessible to everyone, fully funding Resilient Florida and the science and monitoring needed to help predict storms and flooding, and removing barriers for school districts to transition to the lower cost of electric bus options.

In the Free State of Florida, the question for our leaders this legislative session is, will they?

Dawn Shirreffs is the Florida director of the Environmental Defense Fund.