It's the little things...

According to an entry on the "Real Time with Bill Maher" blog, President Obama is acting on climate change himself, without the help of an uncooperative Congress.

Climate Hubs by region

A news release by the USDA from February of this year states that "Climate Hubs" will support parts of President Obama's Climate Action Plan.  A specific focus on the Southeast will "provide science-based information and outreach to help farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners manage resources in the face of climate change and related threats, such as wildfire, invasive species, drought, and extreme weather."

A "Capitol" Success!!

Project Nero's time at the state capitol was a learning experience, to say the least.  As the group began to set up in the atrium between Florida's House of Representatives and Senate chambers, we were approached by the Master of Arms; a tubby man wearing a red tie, who surprisingly didn't seem to be very keen on the idea of a protest, regardless of how peaceful it might be.  He wouldn't allow our props to be used, but we were permitted to hold up signs and distribute the pamphlets....so that's what we did.

Perhaps the most disheartening part of the day was the fact that so many of these elected officials seem to have developed a sort of "rock star" mentality.  While it was obvious that many of the representatives and senators were only taking our pamphlets to be polite, many others were extremely dismissive.  Dr. Opel stood by the doorway of each chamber simply asking if climate change was going to be a topic of discussion during this session, in return he got a few "thumbs up" (which were probably just left over from campaigning) and even a chuckle or two; there was even a member of Americans for Prosperity who called climate change "junk science."  Dr. Opel proceeded to follow him down the hall with the camera to find out how he could have come to such a conclusion....it turns out they were just a bunch of talking points, most likely provided by his group of self-proclaimed experts...(see "Doubters, Deniers & Skeptics" for a few examples).

Overall, we, the students of Project Nero, left the capitol with a new experience under our belts and the ability to see, more realistically, how challenging it will be to get climate change legislation to be taken seriously in Florida. 

Project Nero Takes Tallahassee!

Since the Spring 2014 semester began, Project Nero has been on a mission to gain as much information as possible on why climate change is not a priority to Florida's lawmakers.  Since January, the students involved with Project Nero have had guest speakers, including Fl. Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda and Jennifer Rubiello of Environment Florida, have researched a myriad of different topics and leads as well as had many discussions on what, exactly, is to be accomplished.  With that, I invite you to take a look at our recent progress!

So far...

We have documented Environment Florida's 

petition signing event on the FSU campus.

See the video!

We have spoken to a number of administrative assistants!...but also some members of the legislature, including, Rep. Jose Felix Diaz and Sen. David Simmons. 

The interviews continue; the latest with Sierra Club lobbyist, David Cullen. Hopefully there will be many more to report in the coming weeks!

Rhiannon Martinez with David Cullen of the Sierra Club.

We participated in the Sierra Club's Clean Water Tally Rally on February 18, 2014

On March 4, 2014 we will be at the capitol for the opening day of the legislative session to raise awareness of the lack of climate change legislation in Florida!

Come join us!