Ron DeSantis Bans Climate Change

Evening, Meteor readers,

Hoping everyone is having a blessed week except for this man right here.

In today’s newsletter, we check in on Florida, salute teenage activists in Ecuador, and share our weekend reading list.

Kickin’ it,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

Florida!!!: Ron DeSantis never ceases to amaze me with his insistence on pretending the things he dislikes simply do not exist. First, it was his war on Black history, then it was “Don’t Say Gay”, and now Ronnie is disappearing his latest enemy: climate change.

Yesterday, the Florida governor signed new legislation that, according to The Washington Post, “removes most references to climate change in state law” and deprioritizes the issue in policy decisions. DeSantis’s explanation for this new legislation, which goes into effect this summer? “[This will] keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and China out of our state…We’re restoring sanity in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of the radical green zealots,” he told a local Florida outlet. (It’s worth mentioning here that there are no wind turbines on the beaches, nor is Florida even windy enough to warrant them. The state is better suited to solar power.)

A RECREATION OF ONE OF RON DESANTIS’S NIGHTMARES. (VIA GETTY IMAGES)

So why is the failed presidential candidate railing about “green zealots” and imaginary wind turbines, despite the fact that his constituents are some of the most vulnerable in the country to the effects of climate change? The same reason my kid throws her dino nuggets on the floor: to get attention.

DeSantis clearly aspires to be more than a governor, and in order to endear himself to the GOP base, he’s got to prove he is willing to defy things like science and logic. According to the Post, “environmentalists said the new law is the latest example of DeSantis’s eagerness to use climate change as a culture war issue such as abortion and transgender rights to bring national attention to himself and hit the right notes with right-wing voters.”

But here’s the saving grace: A majority of Floridians agree that climate change is happening, and they want state and federal governments to do something about it. With that in mind, here is a list of offices up for election this year in the state. Vote like your planet depends on it (because it does).

AND:

• Teenage girls in Ecuador are leading a fight against the government for failing to protect them from the noxious gas filling the air from oil extraction projects in the Amazon. Leonela Moncayo, a local 14-year-old activist, told The Guardian, “We are fighting for our future because we want our future to be better – to not live with the danger that just by breathing the air we are being contaminated.”

• The president of California State University, Sonoma has been placed on leave after coming to an agreement with students at the school’s pro-Palestinian encampment which included pursuing divestment from Israel. The school’s chancellor called the agreement “insubordination.”

• You may think that school segregation is a relic of the past, but it turns out in Virginia, it’s making a concerning comeback.

• If you’re a millennial mom and things have been feeling harder than usual, it’s not all in your mind. You might be suffering from what the New York Times is calling a Millennial Mother Midlife Crisis.

• An Indiana judge has ruled that tacos and burritos are, in fact, sandwiches. For the record, I object to this ruling and will be moving to Indiana to file an appeal.

• The bear or man debate has inspired some heartbreaking art in New York:

(SCREENSHOT VIA INSTAGRAM)

WEEKEND READING 📚

On history repeating itself: Twenty years ago, thousands of people across the globe came together under the slogan of Save Darfur. Now, Darfur is facing a new genocide and the West is responding with “indifference.” (The New York Times)

On something bigger: Three journalists dig deeper into the “meaning of Caitlin Clark.” (The Washington Post)

On the brain: Student loan debt isn’t just a financial burden; it’s now becoming a mental health burden. (Teen Vogue)

On implosions: Something strange is happening at Miss USA and it’s causing queens to quit. (Slate)

On Baby Reindeer: Is the Netflix hit a much-needed exploration of trauma, or kinda weird about queerness? Spoilers if you click. (NPR)

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