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Florida’s Climate Czar Pays A Visit To Miami-Dade. Does It Signal New State Support?

Douglas R. Clifford
/
Tampa Bay Times via Miami Herald
(From left) Thomas Frazier, chief science officer at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Julia Nesheiwat, chief resilience officer, Executive Office of the Governor, and Noah Valenstein, secretary, Florida DEP.

Florida’s first-ever climate change czar visited Miami-Dade on Tuesday, and local leaders hope the newly created role signals a new era of help from Tallahassee in the difficult — and expensive — battle to adapt to rising seas.

“We’ve been kind of flying by ourselves here for a while,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez. “All of our efforts are really borne by the people of Miami-Dade.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Julia Nesheiwat, a former hostage negotiator with the state department, to be the state’s first chief resilience officer two months ago. Her job is to help the most vulnerable state in the nation prepare for sea-level rise. South Florida alone expects two feet of sea rise by 2060.

Read more at our news partner, the Miami Herald

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