Climate Change, Environment, Headlines, North America

Q&A: "Climate Change Will Be Important for Years to Come"

Interview with Charlie Crist, Governor of the U.S. State of Florida

MIAMI, Jul 13 2007 (IPS) - This week, Florida&#39s Republican governor announced that he would set a target of cutting the state&#39s greenhouse gas emissions to 20 percent of 1990 levels by 2050, boost energy efficiency standards in new construction and require utilities to produce 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources.

The move allies him with other concerned states, like California and New York, and is a rebuff to the White House, which has steadfastly rejected any mandatory caps on the carbon emissions that scientists say are dramatically accelerating global warming.

Crist is currently hosting the state&#39s first Florida Summit on Global Climate Change in Miami, which brings together state, regional, national and international leaders, as well as members of the business and environmental communities, to explore ways to advance the global climate change agenda and to adopt specific climate action plans.

Florida has more than 1,900 kilometres of coastline and is the nation&#39s third-fastest-growing state, with a population of more than 18 million residents, most of whom live near the water and are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels and powerful storms.

Only about one percent of energy in Florida is currently generated through renewable resources.

In his executive order released Tuesday, Crist says that savings to taxpayers in lowered energy costs would be used to "fund strategic investments elsewhere in Florida&#39s economy that further reduce emissions of greenhouse gases while boosting green industries."

Before going in to attend one of the many summit meetings on Friday morning, Gov. Crist spoke with IPS correspondent Mark Weisenmiller about his new initiative.

IPS: What do you hope to accomplish with this summit?

CC: To build more consensus. To reduce carbon emissions. To make this an everyday topic for Floridians. I&#39m extremely grateful that we had Bobby Kennedy (Jr., a long-time environmentalist and environmental attorney) to speak here yesterday, as well as Teddy Roosevelt (IV, the great-grandson of U.S. President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt).

IPS: The green initiatives that you introduced this week are all-encompassing, but as governor, how will you convince the state&#39s Republican-led legislature as well as the state&#39s utility lobbyists that what you proposed this week will be of long-term benefit for both Florida and Floridians?

CC: I think that these groups that you mentioned know it intuitively. I know that I&#39m encouraged by the energy and enthusiasm here (at the summit). The utilities and the businesses and the unions just instinctively know that we are proposing is best for them and the state of Florida.

IPS: Do you plan to make these environmental summits an annual event?

CC: We haven&#39t discussed it but that&#39s a great idea. I would hope that we could make this an annual thing, but we&#39re really busy with the summit meetings now to plan for another similar-type meeting in the future.

IPS: As a follow-up to your pro-green initiatives introduced this week, do you plan on creating an "environment czar" post in your political cabinet?

CC: We already have one, Mike Sole (Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection) who is doing a great job. But one thing that has come out of this summit is that there will be an appointed committee that will specialise in keeping track of the initiatives introduced this week and which is due to file a report on what&#39s happening with the initiatives to the governor&#39s office on Nov. 1 of this year.

IPS: Did you use any of the pro-green initiatives from your fellow Republicans Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a basis for your own initiatives?

CC: Absolutely we did. Mayor Bloomberg has really been a leader on the topic of global warming and reducing carbon emissions and we used some of his ideas on both when we created them.

IPS: Final question: the environment has been the chief domestic political issue in the United States in 2007, possibly even more so than the Iraq war and the "war on terror". Do you believe that it will be the chief domestic political topic for the U.S. electorate in the 2008 presidential election?

CC: I don&#39t know; I would hope so. This is an issue that will be important for years to come, no matter who is president and no matter what party they&#39re from.

Gov. Crist was due to appear with Gov. Schwarzenegger on Friday at the Miami summit, which began on Thursday and will end on Sunday.

It is unclear if any member of U.S. President George W. Bush&#39s administration is in attendance, or had been in attendance, at the Florida Summit on Global Climate Change.