Florida, which has been on the frontlines of the climate crisis in the U.S. for years, passed legislation on Thursday to spend $100 million a year to address flooding and sea-level rise. The funding, which sailed through the Florida House unanimously and now heads to Gov. Ron DeSantis for signature, is meant to help coastal communities develop resilience strategies. Also this week, state representatives voted along party lines to approve a measure that would redirect more than half of a $400 million trust fund that has traditionally gone to pay for affordable housing, shifting $111.7 million to sea-level rise expenses and $111.7 million to pay for sewage treatment projects.
“This plan is built on a false choice,” said Rep. Omari Hardy of Palm Beach, a Democrat. “It says that the only way that we can address these issues, the only way that we can fund these vital measures, which I support, is to fund it on the backs of working-class Floridians who are struggling to find a place that they can live in and a place that they can afford.” (Miami Herald, AP)