It’s Vacation Eve! I’m shipping up to Maine for my annual lobsterfest, sister-bonding retreat! Which means… you get your time back next week. There will be no Week En Review on the Friday before Labor Day. Take your free time and get some ice cream! I’ll see you on September 6th with a recap of my vacation and all the EcoRight news!
This week’s must read: Polls show Florida Republicans care about climate change (South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Glad to have happened upon this commentary from Yanni Psareas, the regional director for Young Conservatives for Carbon Dividends.
He writes:
As extreme droughts and flash floods began challenging our state earlier this year, three polls were conducted — two by Republican pollsters, and one by Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Environmental Studies — to understand what Floridians think about climate change. For those of us working in environmental and energy policy in the state, the responses from Republicans were striking.
Having worked for more than three years as the Florida state director for a right-of-center energy and climate organization, I know first-hand how much many conservatives in the state care about our environmental challenges. Even so, these recent polls defied my expectations. They show, as one pollster put it, that “Florida’s Republican base is more environmentally conscious than arguably any other red state in the country.”
EcoRight Speaks, Season 9, Episode 2: Tyler Duvelius, Conservative Energy Network
Welcome back to the EcoRight Speaks!
This week’s featured guest is Tyler Duvelius, Director of External Affairs at the Conservative Energy Network, a national network of state-based organizations focused on promoting clean energy innovation rooted in conservative values. In his capacity, Tyler oversees communications and stakeholder relations while working to support and strengthen the work being done by CEN’s 21 state-based conservative clean energy organizations. As you will hear in the episode, Tyler believes that conservative policies will lead clean energy technologies to be the next great frontier of American innovation.
Coming up next week, friend of the pod Yoram Bauman, the world’s only (that we know of) stand up economist, with his latest endeavor, the screenplay Seize the Initiative.
Save The Date: The Beck Environmental Lecture
I’m so honored to have been selected as the 2024 Beck Environmental Lecturer as part of George Mason University’s Fall for the Book Festival in October. If you’re local, join me in conversation about Glacial on October15th from 7-8:30pm with none other than the director of George Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communication, Dr. Ed Maibach.
You can get a reminder to register here.
Floridian under insured:
Our favorite EcoRight commentator Mary Anna Mancuso was struck by the fact that many of her fellow Floridians are under insured when it come to flood insurance.
From her piece in The Invading Sea:
For those unfamiliar with Florida’s topography, flooding can occur anywhere, from coastal areas to inland regions, due to our unique geography, low elevation and susceptibility to various types of extreme weather. Heavy rainfall, storm surge, rising sea levels and even sunny-day flooding in some areas all contribute to this pervasive threat.
Yet, despite these risks, a significant portion of Florida’s population remains underinsured or completely uninsured against flood damage. Roughly 19% of Monroe County’s land in the Florida Keys could flood, threatening $700 million in real estate and buildings.
Reminder, I will be relaxing on the coast of Maine next Friday! I hope you’re doing something equally fun! See you in September.