A local news clip from April 15, 2021, announced unwelcome news for South Florida. The toxic red tide algae, Karenia brevis, is back, as far north as Sarasota (“Elevated red tide levels prompt warning signs to be placed on some beaches across Sarasota County,” https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/red-tide/red-tide-warning-signs-beaches-sarasota-county/67-1a9b5216-0dc7-41a4-9c2e-63a659b1808a). Both Sarasota and Charlotte have reported fish kills in recent weeks (“Red Tide Blooms Continue Causing Fish Kills and Respiratory Irritations in Southwest Florida,” https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/environment/2021-04-30/red-tide-blooms-continue-causing-fish-kills-and-respiratory-irritations-in-southwest-florida).
At the Climate Adaptation Center website, CAC founder Bob Bunting explains the connections between red tide, intensifying hurricanes that wash heavy loads of nutrients from the land into the sea, and waters warmed by climate change to temperatures more frequently hospitable to the toxic organism. See “Hurricanes and Red Tide,” https://www.theclimateadaptationcenter.org/2021/01/11/hurricanes-and-red-tide/.
Cindy Shoffstall of the Lido Key Residents Association recently shared with me a PDF from a Zoom meeting, presented by Sandy Gilbert, of START (https://start1.org/). START stands for “Solutions to Avoid Red Tide” and is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to reduce excess nutrients in waterways in order to prevent red tide. The presentation outlines how red tide is related to both the warming ocean and to nutrient runoff from sources as diverse as the Mississippi River and Lake Okeechobee, power plants, urban runoff, septic systems, and stormwater. START details solutions ranging from public education and personal behavior change to legislation that reduces nutrient loads in waterways to infrastructure upgrades to natural nutrient and runoff controls such as oyster beds, natural pond edges, and plantings. This is only a partial list! You can access the PDF presentation, which is well worth your time, at this link: https://cumber.com/pdf/RED-TIDE-PRESENTATION-BY-START_03.22.21.pdf
Florida’s snowbirds are gone for the season, but the summer tourist season looks to be busier than usual. What will the tourists who visit during the summer of 2021 think of dead fish on the beaches and signs warning people to stay away? We know how tourists felt about beaches of death back in 2018. One first-time visitor described, “choking, gagging, coughing and the horrible smell” (“Tourists shocked to see dead fish on Siesta Key beach,” https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-sarasota-manatee/tourists-shocked-to-see-dead-fish-on-siesta-key-beach). Red tide and rotting fish did not make a favorable first impression.
In addition to South Florida’s red tide and respiratory issues and dead fish and Lake Okeechobee pollution (https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/environment/fl-ne-algae-lake-okeechobee-20210427-53x4o75ejnb4vkkumkprduy36y-story.html), climate change-driven sea level rise demands Floridians’ attention and action. The entire Florida coastline and $7 trillion in coastal real estate face the risk factors of sea level rise. See https://www.theclimateadaptationcenter.org/category/sea-level-rise/ for related resources and further information.
Action on environmental crises is clearly possible where political will exists. As of this writing, for example, Florida lawmakers have designated $100 million to clean up Manatee County’s Piney Point site, where a toxic wastewater leak occurred last month (“Manatee County leaders credit DeSantis for $100-million in state funding for Piney Point cleanup,” https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/special-reports/wastewater-emergency/piney-point-cleanup-manatee-county-state-funding/67-4c398aa8-157b-47f7-acb5-0e363937aa6a).
Looking ahead, Florida’s legislators and especially the state’s congressional representatives and two senators have to ask themselves whether a bipartisan effort can incorporate projects designed to mitigate Florida’s current and looming environmental problems into the Biden infrastructure legislation. That would be an economic win for the state.
I personally expect no help from Florida Senator Rick Scott. He was a climate denier as governor, and he was a “send the federal money back” senator. Florida governor Ron DeSantis disagreed publicly with Scott. DeSantis has also been reversing Scott’s policy of climate change denial in Florida.
So now a test case is coming: a red tide surge coupled with an active hurricane season. See Bob Bunting’s “Climate Adaptation Center 2021 Hurricane Forecast” for an overview of what we are likely to see in Florida this season, storm-wise: https://www.theclimateadaptationcenter.org/2021/04/15/climate-adaptation-center-2021-hurricane-forecast/.
Forecasts by the Climate Adaptation Center and others may turn the political winds in favor of an infrastructure program that includes climate change initiatives and pollution remediation. At Cumberland, we’re hopeful that politicians will compromise on an expanded program that addresses climate change and climate change-driven threats. We’re taking climate change seriously. We’re overweight wind, solar, and water in our US ETF strategy. And we review sea level rise exposure in our bond management credit risk activity.
The late House Speaker Tip O’Neill used to say that “all politics is local” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_politics_is_local). We concur. Red tide and sea level rise certainly mean that Florida is on the radar screen for concerted mitigation and adaptation efforts. The economic case for action is compelling in this state.
As I close this commentary, though, it seems appropriate to frame this shared mission in its broadest context by invoking Amanda Gorman’s rousing 2018 poem “Earthrise.” It’s not hard to find the text, but this young poet’s performance of her poem is not to be missed. Here’s a link: “See ‘Earthrise’ Video by Inauguration Day Poet Amanda Gorman,”
https://www.ecowatch.com/amanda-gorman-earthrise-video-2650154337.html.
David R. Kotok
Chairman of the Board & Chief Investment Officer
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