President Barack Obama was in Everglades National Park Wednesday to talk about climate change on Earth Day.
Ladra does not think that it is a coincidence that this
is the first time he visits the Everglades as POTUS — the year that two South Florida Republicans, former Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio, are running to replace him.
He used the majestic backdrop of our beloved swamp to press for climate change awareness and action. “You can see what makes this unique landscape so magical,” Obama told a small group of scientists, elected leaders, Park Service employees and guests.
“Climate change is threatening this treasure and the communities that depend on it, which includes almost all of South Florida. And if we don’t act, there may not be an Everglades as we know it.”
You know what else is threatening the Everglades, Mr. President? The planned expansion of Turkey Point nuclear plant.
That’s what South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard is worried about and he thought it would be a good time to hit the prez up on local concerns about Florida Power & Light’s plans to build two new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point and how that might impact the environment and put us at greater risk. Construction is scheduled to start next year.
Stoddard, who is also a biology professor at Florida International University, says there are at least 10 oversights in the FP&L report that don’t fully address the impacts of climate change and how that could affect the power plant.
“My ideal outcome is that they find another place to build a nuclear plant. Certainly not here on a hurricane swept coastline between two national parks subject to sea level rise and storm surge,” Stoddard told WLRN.
But what did he tell the president?
“I told him that the plans to expand Turkey Point
would actually interfere with the restoration of the coastal Everglades,” Stoddard told Ladra Thursday. “I asked him to please stop that from happening.”
What ‘d the president say?
“He said, ‘Okay,” and he went on down the line. He was moving up to the next person.”
Stoddard said that the Secret Service had lots of rules. He couldn’t be holding anything. And there were no selfies allowed. “So it was ‘You take a picture of me and I’ll take a picture of you.'” The pictures of him were taken by a colleague and Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner, who got him the invite.
“Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz scored a couple of tickets for Mayor Lerner and she gave one to me,” he said.
When his friends heard he would get a face to face with the president in such a small group, they all wanted him to say this or that or the other.
“I said ‘Look, if I’m really lucky, I’ll manage to get five seconds,'” Stoddard told them.
“I actually managed to squeeze in 10 seconds.”
South Miami’s Phil Stoddard chats up Obama re Turkey Point added by Ladra on
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