Climate change scrambles the Florida Keys

Climate change is making it more dangerous — and much more expensive — to live on the subtropical islands at the southern tip of Florida.

Daniel Cusick writes that extreme heat, tidal flooding and severe hurricanes are driving out longtime residents of the Florida Keys and driving up the cost of basic needs: rent, food, water, power and gasoline.

That has meant the departure of more low- and middle-income residents, many of whom work the service and labor jobs undergirding the Keys’ multibillion-dollar tourism industry. Now people with greater wealth and more mobility are moving in, further increasing housing prices. Meanwhile, the climate clock is ticking as sea levels rise.

This is all happening in a state with a governor who has described himself as “not a global warming person.” Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential Republican presidential nominee, once prefaced resilience plans for sea-level rise with assurances that Florida was just a “flood-prone state.”

Necessary retreat? The population of Big Pine Key dropped 15 percent after Hurricane Irma in 2017. The area is now home to about 4,800 people.

While Big Pine Key is rebuilding, real estate values have nearly doubled since Irma.

Some affordable housing is included in efforts to rebuild properties swept away. But it’s not cheap. After Irma, $13 million in federal funds paid for 31 new elevated homes on Big Pine Key. That’s a hefty $419,000 per home, which doesn’t include the cost of insurance and maintenance.

It’s only a matter of time until living on the Keys becomes untenable even for the wealthiest residents.

A recent study by the Nature Conservancy in Florida, which has monitored sea-level rise on Big Pine Key since 2007, looked at best- and worst-case scenarios for the island. Under the best-case scenario, sea levels would rise by 7 inches by century’s end. Big Pine Key would lose 1,840 acres to the ocean, with property losses as high as $40 million.

Under the worst-case scenario, sea levels would rise 4.6 feet, eating away 96 percent of the key, with property losses of $1.6 billion.

Big Pine Key’s highest ground would effectively become two small, isolated islands.

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All about the messaging

President Joe Biden has some explaining to do.

One of the president’s biggest challenges in his reelection campaign will be helping the public understand why the climate-centric Inflation Reduction Act, the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law and other related pieces of legislation are so important to their lives, Biden campaign manager Quentin Fulks said.

Polls consistently have shown that voters are still largely unfamiliar with the climate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, which contains $369 billion in clean energy spending and incentives, writes Scott Waldman.

Recent polling shows Biden lagging behind former President Donald Trump, the current front-runner to be the GOP nominee, in a head-to-head matchup.

Power Centers

Battery swap?
As anxiety mounts over the capability of electric vehicle chargers, a San Francisco company is trying to advance batteries that pop in and out like the ones in a flashlight, writes David Ferris.

Battery-swapping stations have gained momentum in China, even after high-profile failures over the last decade in Israel and at Tesla.

Fishy business
The European Union’s sustainable fishing funds are intended to save the environment, write Antoaneta Roussi and Louise Guillot.

In the Indian Ocean, critics say, they’re being used as leverage to allow Europe’s fishing fleets to keep catching vast amounts of tuna.

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That’s it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.