By Trimmel Gomes, Florida News Connection
In preparation for the fifth annual Florida Climate Week, featuring more than 75 events across the state, organizers said the state’s resilience efforts are being undermined by federal funding cuts.
This year’s focus on urgent challenges, like extreme heat and stronger storms, is set against a backdrop of significant cuts to federal programs. Thais Lopez Vogel, cofounder of the VoLo Foundation, said the timing highlights a stark contrast between local action and federal retreat.
“Florida is the state No. 1 when it comes to facing any kind of risk because of the climate crisis,” Lopez Vogel pointed out. “It’s the No. 1 in the United States. It’s No. 10 worldwide.”
Referring to Climate Week NYC, which inspired the idea for Florida Climate Week, she said, “I said to myself, why are we doing this in New York, when we have at home a lot more vulnerability?”
Florida Climate Week runs Oct. 6-12, featuring in-person and virtual events on policy, clean energy and coastal protection in cities from Jacksonville to Miami. Its launch comes as an analysis from the Natural Resources Defense Council found $192 million in approved federal grants for 21 Florida climate resilience projects are now frozen or canceled, jeopardizing local efforts to combat the climate crisis.
Lopez Vogel, a mother of six, stressed her drive to act on climate change comes from wanting a livable future for the next generation. She argued the urgency for statewide events like Climate Week has grown because Floridians are now experiencing the consequences of the climate crisis firsthand.
“In the last five years, we have encountered more and more climate-related disasters,” Lopez Vogel noted. “I think people that are living this day-to-day, year-to-year, are more aware of it. Therefore, they participate more and it’s growing. Every year is bigger and bigger.”
Lopez Vogel added with federal support wavering, community-level education and preparedness through events like Florida Climate Week are critical for building a resilient future.
Florida News Connection is a bureau of the Public News Service. Banner photo: A Tampa street was still closed due to flooding four days after Hurricane Milton (Liz Roll/Federal Emergency Management Agency, via Defense Visual Information Distribution Service).
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