Letters: Scott's climate flip-flop | Reforestation | Trump is to blame

Oct 15, 2024

Not surprisingly, given Helene, Milton and the impending election, Sen. Rick Scott has suddenly acknowledged (during a CNN interview with Dana Bash on Sept. 27) that our climate is indeed changing — though he pretends to not know why. Also not surprising, Scott chose not to mention that climate change is creating havoc for Florida’s safety and economy and driving our rapidly escalating home-insurance rates.

On this issue, we need consistency from our U.S. senator, not an Election Day conversion. Scott’s long-standing denial of climate change itself and the actions he took while governor to abolish carbon-reduction goals and eliminate any mention of the words “climate change” by his administration tell the real story.

We need a senator who both recognizes the reality of climate change and is willing to act to protect us all, not just talk to get himself re-elected.

Tom Stewart Boca Raton

Citizen’s Climate Lobby members have been working to promote bipartisan legislation that will help reforestation projects. The Seedlings for Sustainable Habitat Restoration Act increases funding, training and tree planting capacity. It will allow agencies at the federal level to cooperate with universities, private groups, nonprofits, and multistate coalitions to meet objectives. Many thanks to Rep. Darren Soto, the only Florida member of Congress to co-sponsor the bill so far. It is only through collaborative, broad-thinking efforts like these that we will be able to move forward. I hope Rep. Daniel Webster will consider adding his name to this bill as well. Readers can support the efforts featured in this story by contacting their own representatives in Congress and asking them to support the Sustainable Habitat Restoration Act. As two hurricanes just this month have shown us, weather-related disasters can happen anywhere, at any time. Our ability to adapt and rebuild is going to depend on how prepared we are today.

Cayle Sullivan Windermere

In the wake of the presumed assassination plot uncovered at Donald Trump’s Florida golf course, the former president alleged that the use of incendiary language by Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden inspired the suspected gunman to act. Trump claimed, without a shred of evidence, that “their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at.” That would include the failed assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

It is more likely that Trump’s own long history of inflammatory rhetoric was actually a motivating factor, but we may never know the truth as to what impelled the would-be assassins. One thing is clear, however. Trump remains a threat to our democracy, and he is trying to silence those who would remind the American people of the danger he poses.

In the end, and in the words of William Shakespeare, Trump may be “hoist with his own petard.”

Jane Larkin Tampa