Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) views on climate change have apparently not won him any favor in Miami.
Experts say that sea-level rise could easily reach six to ten feet by the end of the century, which would be enough to put most of Miami underwater, The Guardian reported Friday. Rubio is among those Florida politicians, including Gov. Rick Scott (R), who’ve refused to address the warnings of those experts.
“Rubio is an idiot,” South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard said, as quoted by The Guardian. “He says he is not a scientist so he doesn’t have a view about climate change and sea-level rise and so won’t do anything about it.”
Rubio, a potential 2016 presidential contender, has said that he doesn’t agree with the notion of man-made climate change.
“I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it,” he said in a May interview on ABC’s “This Week.” “That’s what I do not — and I do not believe that the laws that they propose we pass will do anything about it. Except it will destroy our economy.”
Stoddard, who is also a biology professor, contrasted Rubio with his Democratic counterpart Sen. Bill Nelson, who Stoddard said has been holding field hearings where scientists can explain the significance of the data on sea-level rise and climate change to people.
“Unfortunately, not enough people follow his example,” Stoddard said, as quoted by the Guardian. “And all the time, the waters are rising.”
Read the whole thing here.
