Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo wrote in an op-ed published in the Miami Herald that efforts to combat climate change should rise above partisan politics.
“To view climate change through partisan lenses only detracts from efforts to discover practical solutions. This debate should not devolve into a petty competition between Republicans and Democrats,” Curbelo writes. “Instead, it should consist of a constructive dialogue focusing on the implementation of policies that encourage the growth and development of clean alternative energy sources that will complement traditional ones.”
He points to coastal erosion and sea level rise as impacts that place Florida “at the frontline of climate change” and cites clean energy investment as a way to reduce carbon emissions. Curbelo supports an approach that “is market-based as opposed to one driven by an increase in top-down government regulation.” He elaborates that “enacting policies that encourage the private sector to invest, not only in general infrastructure projects, but long-term visionary technologies, will lead to economic prosperity and environmental sustainability.”
Curbelo serves on the House Climate Solutions Caucus and is also a co-sponsor of various climate-related bills, including the Gibson Resolution and an ocean acidification bill he introduced earlier this year with delegation mate Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.