A life-sized statue of Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, was unveiled and promptly began melting in front of an audience in Tallahassee in a symbolic protest at his rejection of action on the climate crisis. The silvery statue, revealed to an audience of onlookers last week, melted away to show a skull under DeSantis’s face. The structure was cast from solid gallium, a metal that melts at 85.6F (29.8C), which is below summertime high temperatures frequently reached in Tallahassee, Florida’s capital.
The environmentalists behind the statue-based protest said it was a fitting monument to DeSantis’s eight years as Florida governor, which comes to an end in January. The Republican has frequently criticized what he has called a “radical climate agenda”, blocking the ability of Florida municipalities to slash planet-heating pollution and even erased terms such as “climate change” and “greenhouse gas emissions” from Florida state law. This law has hindered the ability of state agencies to even mention a climate crisis that poses an outsized threat to Florida.
In classrooms, meanwhile, state education regulations are also ensuring the steady elimination of any reference to climate change. Southern Florida is acutely threatened by sea level rise, while homes and businesses across the entire state have been increasingly lashed by powerful hurricanes, worsened by rising global temperatures. The increasing damage wrought by storms supercharged by ocean and atmospheric heat has proved so costly that several major insurers have exited Florida entirely.
The state’s stance towards the climate crisis looks unlikely to change, however. Florida has become a Republican bastion in recent years and Byron Donalds, the GOP candidate, is heavily favored to win the governor’s race in next month’s midterm elections. Donalds has said he wants to maintain Florida’s environment but has said he doesn’t accept the link between climate change and human actions, despite scientific consensus that the burning of fossil fuels is causing temperatures to rise.
And yet, some candidates running for office still deny it’s happening, and deny the bold climate action that the people want.” said Candice Fortin, campaign manager at 350Action, the environmental group behind the DeSantis statue, along with advertising agency Uncommon.
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