‘Now can we talk about climate change and sea level rise?’

Whenever there is a crisis such as a school shooting, concerned people want to discuss universal background checks or sensible gun control legislation. The response is always “now is not the time to bring up politics on this issue.” To which they ask, “then when should we bring it up?”

Now that Hurricane Irma has left the state of Florida, I would like to ask our elected officials, “Now can we talk about climate change and sea level rise?”

We live in a state that is highly vulnerable to the rising oceans and a warming planet. Climate change is accepted science by the vast majority of scientists. And these same climate change scientists agree that humans are having a significant impact on the changing climate. They predicted that hurricanes would be stronger, and more damaging. Fortunately, Irma weakened as she headed over our state and our area was spared the brunt of her force.

But the pictures of flooding in low-lying, coastal areas is dramatic. We need to address this issue NOW!!

Our governor has a history of preventing people in his administration from using the terms “climate change” or “sea level rise.” Our president has called climate change a Chinese hoax and has withdrawn the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, to the dismay of many state, local and business leaders. As concerned citizens, we need to educate ourselves and we need to insist that our elected representatives address climate change in an open, honest, and practical way.

We shouldn’t wait for the next major storm. It may be too late by then.

This story was originally published September 15, 2017 at 3:02 PM with the headline "‘Now can we talk about climate change and sea level rise?’."