DeSantis’ environmental order shows promise, but will it be effective?

Florida’s new governor has only been in office for a couple weeks and he’s been anything but idle. So far, he has (among other things): appointed three justices to the Florida Supreme Court, suspended three political officers, called for the legalization of smokable medical marijuana and announced a sweeping environmental program. It’s this last item I want to focus on.

Coming into office, many observers weren’t expecting Gov. DeSantis to be a climate warrior. He has questioned the role of human activity in climate change on the campaign trail, he ran under a party with a history of denying or minimizing climate change and he closely tied himself to a president who called climate change a “hoax” created by China. His announcement via executive order of a sweeping environmental program on Jan. 10, which included an aggressive policy to combat algal blooms, ban fracking, oppose offshore drilling and promote green infrastructure, came out of left field for many observers. While I and many others would like to believe DeSantis is some sort of green warrior in disguise, we must dig a little deeper to see if this optimism is justified.

So, what are the practical effects of DeSantis’ executive order? For one thing, it directed construction to be sped up on a 17,000-acre Everglades reservoir. Some lawmakers like Florida Senate President Joe Negron backed the plan as a way to stop polluted water in Lake Okeechobee from reaching the ocean and to direct more water to the Everglades. But some environmentalist groups have raised doubts about the plan, saying it’s far below their initial proposal of a 60,000-acre reservoir and that the smaller and deeper reservoir of the new proposal may not be effective in cleaning the water. DeSantis’ executive order also created an Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection to prepare for rises in sea level and an Office of Environmental Accountability and Transparency to oversee environmental research and ensure agencies are aligned with environmental priorities. It also directs the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to create a program for septic conversion and remediation. And there’s more I won’t even get into.

Still, there are some things to be worried about. As an article in Treasure Coast Newspapers discussed, both DeSantis’ office and the Department of Environmental Protection have been vague when it comes to a timetable for these reforms. In addition, at least one of DeSantis’ proposals has raised eyebrows among environmentalists. DeSantis’ order would move “environmental crimes law enforcement” from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to the Department of Environmental Protection. While Florida Fish and Wildlife has armed officers to do the usual police officer things (go on patrol, undercover operations, make arrests, etc.), the Department of Environmental Protection takes a more conciliatory approach, having no sworn law officers and first sending letters to non-complying entities on how they can get back in compliance. Barring a shift in the department’s priorities and operations, this could mean weaker and more toothless enforcement of environmental protections, which would be bad for Florida.

In the end, DeSantis’ environmental programs mostly sound good, but there are one or two more questionable ideas, and how these ideas will go into practice is still vague. I would like to be optimistic, but the lack of a clear timetable and the fact this executive order was only announced 11 days ago means we haven’t seen much substantial change so far. Voters will need to be vigilant. They have to keep an eye on the news to see if he’s following through on his promises and hold him accountable if he isn’t. If the people of Florida flex their muscles and show their commitment to protecting Florida’s environment, hopefully, we’ll get a better and more beautiful Florida to pass on to our children.

Jason Zappulla is a UF history junior. His column normally appears on Mondays.