Florida Senate - 2021                            (NP)    SR 1190
       
       
        
       By Senator Farmer
       
       
       
       
       
       34-01402-21                                           20211190__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution expressing the Legislature’s support for
    3         investment in 21st century resilient infrastructure
    4         solutions, projects, and policy proposals to support
    5         long-term climate resilience, which includes a
    6         reduction of pollution and the development of clean
    7         energy systems, clean transportation options, flood
    8         protections, and other improvements in neighborhood
    9         livability.
   10  
   11         WHEREAS, rising concentrations of global heat-trapping
   12  gases as a result of human activity are warming the earth’s
   13  atmosphere and directly contributing to higher average
   14  temperatures, more extreme weather and hurricanes, sea-level
   15  rise, higher transmission rates of vector-borne diseases,
   16  economic destabilization, and biodiversity loss, and
   17         WHEREAS, climate resiliency is a lens through which all
   18  infrastructure investments and public policy may be examined,
   19  and which encapsulates a broad spectrum of social and physical
   20  infrastructure improvements meant to help communities and
   21  industries overcome the shocks and stressors associated with a
   22  warming planet, and
   23         WHEREAS, the impacts of shocks and stressors at the
   24  community level are determined by the vulnerability of the
   25  system and the capacity of those affected to withstand them, and
   26         WHEREAS, state and local leaders increasingly will be
   27  confronted with the need to prepare communities and
   28  infrastructure to withstand 21st century threats while improving
   29  families’ economic stability and protecting the air, water, and
   30  natural areas that residents of this state deeply value, and
   31         WHEREAS, the State of Florida acknowledges that the average
   32  number of days with a heat index above 100°F is rising, and that
   33  this state is projected to experience 123 days with a heat index
   34  above 100°F by 2036, and
   35         WHEREAS, given this state’s rising temperature trends, air
   36  conditioning can be a lifesaver for children, the elderly, and
   37  people with disabilities, as heat is the number one weather
   38  related killer in the United States, killing more people on
   39  average each year than floods, lightning, tornadoes, and
   40  hurricanes combined, and
   41         WHEREAS, for low-income households, paying higher energy
   42  bills to run air-conditioning units means having less money
   43  available for groceries, rent, and health care, and these
   44  households often suffer doubly, as poor quality housing that is
   45  not well insulated or energy efficient leads to even higher
   46  bills to keep a residence cool, and
   47         WHEREAS, climbing temperatures worsen outdoor air quality
   48  and public health, as common air pollutants such as ground ozone
   49  disproportionately impact low-income communities, Latinos,
   50  African Americans, the poor, the elderly, and our children, and
   51         WHEREAS, this state lacks significant petroleum and natural
   52  gas reserves, and investments in equitable renewable energy
   53  systems such as solar provide significant job opportunities and
   54  reduce our reliance on heat-trapping gas emitting fossil fuels,
   55  and
   56         WHEREAS, risk management experts estimate that for every $1
   57  invested in building resilient communities and infrastructure,
   58  $6 is saved in future costs, including economic disruptions,
   59  property damage, public health crises, and deaths caused by
   60  extreme weather disasters and other crises, and
   61         WHEREAS, if the Legislature invested $283 million across
   62  this state in infrastructure to prepare areas vulnerable to sea
   63  level rise and extreme weather, Florida taxpayers could save
   64  nearly the same amount that they paid to repair damage from
   65  Hurricane Irma, approximately $1.7 billion, and
   66         WHEREAS, scientists project that over the next 30 years,
   67  this state’s sea level will rise by an additional 13 inches, and
   68  if this rate continues to accelerate, by the end of the century,
   69  the sea level around this state could rise more than 6 feet, and
   70         WHEREAS, vulnerable communities are defined as economically
   71  disadvantaged communities, communities of color, and tribal
   72  communities that are more vulnerable to the impacts of a warming
   73  world, NOW, THEREFORE,
   74  
   75  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   76  
   77         That Florida must lead in 21st century resilient
   78  infrastructure solutions and that the Legislature intends to
   79  reduce the public health and economic threats of more extreme
   80  weather, harmful heat-trapping air pollutants, and sea-level
   81  rise by expanding investment in clean renewable energy and
   82  transportation systems, flood protections, and other
   83  improvements through policy initiatives and infrastructure
   84  projects.
   85         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that resiliency projects and
   86  policies should benefit our most underserved and disadvantaged
   87  communities first and should be designed with community input.