Evangelical leader says Fla.s governor is being very frustrating on climate change Evan Lehmann, E&E reporter Published: Friday, August 22, 2014 Florida Gov. Rick Scott is being pressed by more than just scientists to act on climate change. The religious Republican is also being courted by an evangelical reverend who delivered 60,000 signatures to his office last week. So far, its been a challenging effort to get the governors attention, said the Rev. Mitchell Hescox, president of the Evangelical Environmental Network. The goal of his conservative group is to reorient climate change from a political issue to a moral one. Getting the support of someone like Scott, who co-founded the evangelical Naples Community Church, would make a big impact, he said. Im a lifelong registered Republican. Im a conservative at heart, Hescox said. I would love to see the governor follow his faith to see this is not a political issue and draw everybody together. Hescox, who lives in Pennsylvania, said the petition he left with the governors office last Wednesday was signed exclusively by Florida pro-life Christians. It asks Scott, who expresses doubt about peoples contribution to climate change, to be a leader on the issue. He also left a Bible at Scotts office that was signed by 70 Latino evangelical pastors who attended a religious event in Miami last week on climate change. Hes been trying unsuccessfully to schedule a meeting with Scott. It became very frustrating when I got a no from his staff and then a yes from his staff and then his general counsel emails me back saying, Notwithstanding other offers you may have received, the governor is too busy to meet with you, Hescox said. Scotts office didnt respond to a request for comment. Climate change took on greater political dimensions this week when Scott met with five scientists who asked for a meeting to discuss the impacts of warming on the Sunshine State. They made the request after Scott said that hes not a scientist when asked in July about his beliefs on climate change. Yesterday, three of the scientists repeated the presentation they gave to Scott for reporters. It reviewed carbon dioxides effect on warming, a description of sampling ice cores for old carbon, the drivers behind sea-level rise, and the evidence for warming from human activity. Im not a scientist, either Jeff Chanton, a professor of oceanography at Florida State University, showed the governor a graph with two lines representing CO2 concentrations and temperature. They follow the same up-and-down path over 800,000 years, passing through eras of glacial and non-glacial states. These two things run together. Theres no doubt about it, Chanton said of CO2 and temperature. All through that timeline, the concentration of CO2 pingponged between 180 parts per million and 280 ppm, he said. Now its at 400 ppm, said Chanton, who had shown a graph with a line for temperature that climbed rapidly upward since the early 1800s, when the industrial era began. Ben Kirtman, a professor of meteorology at the University of Miami, said the scientific principles of climate change are very robust. Its solid science. We need our policymakers and our politicians to acknowledge that, he said. When our leaders deny that its happening, it makes it very difficult for communities to figure out how to respond because someone from the top is saying, Oh, dont believe in it. Its not clear what Scott believes. When asked by reporters Wednesday if the meeting changed his mind, he said, Im not an expert on this. Instead, he said hes focused on finding solutions like stronger beaches, cleaner drinking water and a healthier Everglades. That opened him up to criticism from Charlie Crist, Floridas former governor who is challenging Scott as a Democrat in this falls gubernatorial election. Crists official Twitter account yesterday publicized the governors meeting with scientists and then asked, why wont he listen? For his part, Hescox said that a religious person can rely less on scientific studies and more on the Bible. He said its clear that people could treat the Earth better. We believe we cannot be a disciple of Jesus unless you take action to care for his creation, he said. Im not a scientist, either. Im a pastor, a theologian and now the leader of a Christian nonprofit. But I have eyes to see whats going on.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 02:25:57 +0000
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