DeSantis says humanity is ‘safer than ever’ from climate change

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said humans are “safer than ever” in the face of the threat of climate change, and he blasted the Biden administration’s efforts to combat the phenomenon by unveiling an energy plan focused on oil and gas on Wednesday.

DeSantis, who is vying for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, made the comments during a speech in Midland, Texas. He has pledged to pass a series of measures aimed at rolling back efforts to combat climate change, including proposals to make electric vehicles more expensive, increase domestic production of fossil fuels and withdraw U.S. United with the historic Paris climate agreement.

“We’ve seen a concerted effort to increase fear when it comes to things like global warming and climate change,” he said Wednesday, saying Democrats were trying to “limit your ambitions.”

“They even tell our younger generations to have fewer children, or even not to have any, under the pretext that one way or another, children will make our climate and our planet unlivable – and that ‘is wrong to say.’

DeSantis’ comments come just weeks after a Category 3 hurricane hit Florida, bringing record floodwaters and warnings from scientists that climate change is fueling more dangerous and frequent storms. The United Nations secretary-general warned this week that humanity had “opened the gates of hell” and, even under current commitments, had not done enough to limit emissions responsible for global warming. the planet.

Florida’s governor appeared to dismiss scientists’ concerns Wednesday, saying that while the climate had “clearly” changed, his policies to increase energy production were actually a “practical way to reduce global emissions.” Warnings about a future of climate-related disasters, he said, were just “fear tactics.”

“We are dealing with hurricanes in Florida,” the governor said. “We, too, are dealing with fires in Florida, but what I would say is when… Joe Biden says he’s more concerned, like in 10 years, about the climate than about a nuclear war, I mean, I’m sorry, it’s just not true.”

The lectern in front of the governor held a sign reading “$2 in 2025,” highlighting his campaign promise to lower the price of gasoline to $2 a gallon if elected to the White House. The Biden campaign took umbrage at DeSantis’ attacks, calling his plans “deeply unserious and impractical” and “full of the climate denial that defines the MAGA Republican Party.”

“Voters need look no further than DeSantis’ state — where his agenda is leading to skyrocketing energy costs for his constituents and natural disasters are causing tens of billions of dollars in damage — for “know what DeSantis’ plan would mean for the country,” Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for Biden’s re-election campaign, told the New York Times.