FLORIDA, USA — Throughout the month of December, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been traversing the state to pitch his ideas for next year's state budget. Among the list of proposed funding is $1.5 billion for environmental initiatives.
It's something that would have sounded far-fetched more than three years ago in a Republican-controlled legislature, but a survey done by Florida Atlantic University shows climate change is something that is resonating with people on both sides of the aisle here in the sunshine state.
According to the survey, 88 percent of Florida Republicans believe climate change is real. It's not as high as Democrats (96 percent) in the state, but it's double what the party believed just a couple of years ago.
In 2019, the same survey found only 44 percent of Florida Republicans believed in climate change.
While the term climate change hasn't been directly used in the governor's presentations, the projects and efforts he is hoping to fund certainly address what it can do to Florida.
Just last week, the governor proposed $270 million from the state's budget to fund more than 76 projects that address sea-level rise. The projects would upgrade infrastructure in order to make coastal and inland areas more resistant to flooding.
The governor has also proposed $660 million for Everglades restoration projects and $300 million for the protection of water resources. $35 million will also go to combat harmful algal blooms, including blue-green algae and red tide. $15 million will be set aside for "innovative technologies."
As a whole, 92 percent of Floridians believe in climate change, which outpaces the national average by nearly 20 percent, according to the survey.
