South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard pulls no punches when describing his state’s junior senator, recently telling The Guardian:
?Rubio is an idiot.?
And not just because of Rubio’s now infamous gaffe of interrupting his State of the Union rebuttal for a water break, either.
The state of Florida is at substantial risk due to the consistently increasing sea level that history’s recorded over the last century, Stoddard affirms, and that is projected to increase dramatically over the next 100 years. Still, Sen. Marco Rubio (R) won’t accept it, the mayor says.
?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. [?] And all the time, the waters are rising.?
Rubio has long been an opponent to scientific arguments regarding global warming, denying their validity. While his argument frequently carries a biblical basis, it doesn’t take long for him to reveal its true basis: Rubio doesn’t want the government to make companies obey environmental protection laws.
For example, in his 2012 rebuttal to the president’s State of the Union address (and in between his now-infamous water breaks?), Rubio said environmental concerns were only a ?job-killing? means of wasting taxpayer money.
And while he’s started to change his story after catching wide criticism for the denial, Rubio denies that people or corporations having anything to do with it, and he’s still firmly against addressing the issue, too. He told national media in May:
?I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it. I do not believe that the laws that (Democrats) propose we pass will do anything about it, except it will destroy our economy. Our climate is always changing.?
But as the climate changes, so too does the economy, and which Rubio should know firsthand. Nine of the 10 most damaging hurricanes in history struck his state of Florida, and resulting in over $500 billion in accumulative damages. An outstanding majority of recovery funds for these incidents came from the federal government and its taxpayers. Following these natural disasters of hurricanes, annual economic growth to an affected area notably declines; when recovery from the disaster is completed, the economic growth only regains one-quarter of its previous rate. And before the end of the 21st century, his state’s largest city of Miami is predicted be completely underwater if immediate response to the established climate change isn’t provided. And aside from some scuba divers, there won’t be much business opportunity then, now will there, Rubio?
Do you think Rubio’s reception of climate change is “a bit under the weather?” Tell us about it on Liberal America’s Facebook page!
