Discussion of Climate Change Omitted from Florida Governor’s Hurricane Conference

Discussion of Climate Change Omitted from Florida Governor’s Hurricane Conference

In May 2018, Florida Governor Rick Scott hosted the 32^nd annual Governor’s Hurricane Conference, in West Palm Beach. The conference is intended to “provide a vehicle to present lessons learned and other important information about hurricanes to public and private officials.” Much of the conference focused on how to prepare for, and recover from, hurricanes in the future. However, despite significant scientific research indicating that climate change will increase the severity of future hurricanes, the topic was not discussed at the conference. According to media reports, of the dozens of conference workshops and training sessions advertised, “not one” dealt with climate change or sea-level rise.