The existential crisis of climate change isn’t just the greatest threat facing our planet — it’s also the greatest opportunity for adding millions of jobs to the American workforce. Creating new jobs in green energy helps us address climate change while stimulating our economy at the same time. As your Congressman, I will work to pass the Green New Deal to help the people of Florida and America transition from the use of fossil fuels to clean, renewable sources of energy. I will also work to limit greenhouse gas emissions and control the amount of carbon that we release into the atmosphere.

In Florida, we feel the effects of climate change more directly because we are surrounded by the ocean. Rising sea levels and more powerful hurricanes make it hard to ignore the dynamic effects we humans have on our environment and vice-versa. Rising insurance rates further demonstrate the connection between greenhouse warming and the wider effects of extreme global weather patterns, which can no longer be denied.

In addition, we must also continue to keep our air, water, and land free from pollution. Without the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) we would still be dumping harmful chemicals and compounds into our streams, skies, and ground. We must continue to monitor superfund sites for hazardous waste and clean up what we can. And in Florida, we have many nature preserves which must be protected from agricultural run-off due to the overuse of fertilizers. We cannot take nature for granted because the Earth can only absorb so much pollution before it spits it back out—contaminating our aquifers and ground water and potentially poisoning ourselves and our families.

I also think we need to do a better job of partnering locally with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The people of FEMA are a particularly important resource for Floridians who may be dealing with natural disasters. People rely on FEMA for assistance when their homes and businesses are literally blown away. I will work closely with FEMA to make sure that disaster relief claims are not delayed in processing for any local victims of nature’s destructive wrath.